Space Exploration

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.

March 2, 1972

NASA launches Pioneer 10 spacecraft on a mission to explore the outer planets of the solar system. It will pass near Jupiter and Neptune before leaving the solar system.

March 1, 1966

The unmanned Soviet space probe Venera 3 crashes into the night side of Venus, becoming the first spacecraft to land on another planet.

February 26, 1966

The first Saturn 1B rocket is launched from Cape Canaveral. The Saturn 1B was primarily used for testing the Apollo spacecraft while the larger Saturn V rocket that was necessary for travel to the Moon was being developed. Later, after completion of the Moon landing program, The Saturn 1B was used for manned Skylab flights and the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. In total, the Saturn 1B was launched 9 times with no failures.

February 24, 2011

The Space Shuttle Discovery launches on flight STS-133, its 39th and final mission, transporting several items to the International Space Station, including a humanoid robot called Robonaut2, nicknamed R2. Discovery was the longest-serving orbiter, flying more missions than any other Space Shuttle.

February 24, 1949

Considered the first US rocket to reach outer space by NASA, Bumper 5 is launched from the White Sands Proving Grounds in New Mexico. The rocket was a combination of a modified captured German V-2 ballistic missile with a US-designed WAC Corporal rocket. It reached a record altitude at the time of 244 miles. The later named and established Kármán line, which is 62.1 miles (100 kilometers) above the Earth’s sea level, is considered the upper limit of Earth’s atmosphere and the beginning of Outer Space.

Interestingly, according to information found online there were other previous captured V-2 test flights launched from White Sands that reached higher than 100 km prior to Bumper 5. Still, the significance of Bumper 5 was that it was the first successful two-stage rocket launch, which proved the feasibility of the basic design of staged rockets that made successful space flight a reality.

February 20, 1986

The Soviet Union launches the core module of the Mir space station. The core module will provide living quarters for the cosmonauts, including a galley, cooking elements, storage, individual crew cabins and personal hygiene area. Five additional modules will be launched between March 1987 and April 1996.

February 20, 1962

John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit the Earth, riding aboard Friendship 7. Glenn orbits the Earth three times in four hours, fifty-five minutes. NASA accomplishes the landmark using an IBM 7030 Stretch supercomputer.