Space Exploration

January 5, 1972

U.S. President Richard Nixon orders the development of a space shuttle program.

January 4, 2004

Spirit, a NASA Mars Rover, lands successfully on Mars.

January 4, 1959

Two days after launch, the Soviet spacecraft Luna 1 becomes the first to reach the vicinity of the Moon.

January 4, 1958

After nearly 3 months in orbit, the first Earth-orbiting artificial satellite, Sputnik 1 falls to Earth.

January 3, 1999

The Mars Polar Lander is launched. The mission ultimately ended in failure during an attempted landing on Mars’ surface. Attempts to re-establish communication with the lander failed after the lander entered Mars’ atmosphere. It has been concluded that the most likely cause of the failure was a software error, causing the lander to crash into the planet. Even though software was the likely culprit, it has not been proven that Microsoft had anything to do with it 🙂

January 2, 2004

The NASA spacecraft Stardust successfully flies past Comet Wild 2, collecting samples that are returned to Earth.

January 2, 1959

Luna 1, the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon and to orbit the Sun, is launched by the U.S.S.R.