Space Exploration

March 29, 1974

Mariner 10 becomes the first spacecraft to flyby the planet Mercury. At a range of 437 miles, Mariner 10 was able to send back the first close up images of Mercury indicating a Moon-like surface of craters and ridges. Until Mariner ran out of fuel and contact terminated about one year later, it made two more flybys of Mercury returning over 2,700 pictures of the innermost planet in our solar system.

Mariner 10 also was famous for many other firsts:

• The first spacecraft to use the gravity of one planet (Venus) to reach another (Mercury)
• The first spacecraft to return data on a long-period comet (Kohoutek)
• The first mission to explore two planets (Mercury and Venus) during a single mission
• The first spacecraft to use a gravity assist to change its flight path
• The first spacecraft to return to its target after an initial encounter
• The first probe to use the solar wind as a major means of spacecraft orientation during flight

March 28, 1935

Robert Goddard, considered the father of modern rocketry, successfully launches the first gyroscope controlled rocket. His A-5 rocket flew to an altitude of 4,800 feet, flew horizontally for 13,000 feet and reached a speed of 550 miles per hour. Gyroscopic technology is critical for the stabilization of modern flight systems in airplanes and spacecraft.

March 25, 1979

The first space flight capable Space Shuttle, Columbia, is delivered to the John F. Kennedy Space Center. Columbia was the second orbiter built, but its predecessor Enterprise was built primarily as an early testing prototype and without engines and functional heat shielding was not capable of space flight. Columbia was set to launch in late 1979 but due to various problems, did not launch until April 12, 1981. Columbia was lost on February 1, 2003 upon re-entry due to damage to the heat shield on its wing from an impact from falling foam insulation.

March 23, 2001

The Russian space station Mir burns up in the Earth’s atmosphere after fifteen years in orbit. The debris that isn’t burned up falls safely into the Pacific ocean between Chile and New Zealand, in a region from which governments had routed planes and ships away. The station, which was launched in 1986, far exceeded its intended lifespan of five years.

March 21, 1965

NASA Launches Ranger 9, the last of the Ranger series of unmanned lunar exploratory spacecraft. Ranger 9 was the first moon probe to point its cameras directly in the direction of its travel, capturing 5,814 detailed images of the moon’s surface into which it would crash land almost 3 days later. It also sent back video images which were broadcast on live TV. The Ranger series was the precursor to the Apollo Moon landing program.

March 17, 1958

The American satellite Vanguard 1 is launched. About the size of a grapefruit, Vanguard 1 was the 2nd American satellite launched and 4th man-made object in Earth orbit, following Sputnik 1, Sputnik 2, and Explorer 1. It was the first satellite to have solar power, highest object launched at the time, and currently holds the record for the oldest man-made object still in orbit. Vanguard 1 is expected to stay in orbit until the late 22nd century.

March 16, 1926

Robert Goddard, now considered the father of modern rocketry, successfully launched the world’s first liquid-fueled rocket in Auburn, Massachusetts. The rocket reached an altitude of 41 feet in 2 seconds at a speed of about 60 miles per hour.

The concept of using liquid as fuel allowed the advancement of rocket technology to the point where space travel was made possible. Goddard died in 1945 before his vision of space travel became a reality, however NASA acknowledged his contributions by naming the Goddard Space Flight Center after him.

March 13, 1781

Using a telescope, English astronomer William Herschel notices a small object that would move slowly across the sky over the next several days. At first thinking he had discovered a comet, continued observation revealed a planet, soon named Uranus after the Greek god of the sky. This event was also notable as it was the first time a planet was discovered by telescope.

The discovery of the planet led to Herschel’s appointment as royal court astronomer by King George III which allowed him to further pursue astronomy. Over 20 years Herschel would observe and catalog 2,500 new nebulae and star clusters as well as two moons around Uranus and two more around Saturn. He also proposed the name “asteroids” for the objects discovered in 1801. 

March 10, 2006

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) arrives at the Red Planet and enters its initial orbit. The MRO’s primary mission was to search for the existence of water on Mars along with several other objectives. Initially designed to carry out its main mission for two years and supporting objectives for four years, the MRO is still in operation as of 2023. The MRO has returned over 445 terabits of data, helped locate safe landing sites for NASA’s Mars landers and discovered ice and possible flowing water on the Red Planet’s surface.

March 6, 2009

Kepler, the first planet seeking space telescope is launched by NASA on a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral. While intended for a three-and-a-half year mission, Kepler stayed operational for 9 years until it ran out of fuel in 2018. Kepler discovered more than 2,600 planets outside our solar system.