Today In Space History
27 November 1971 - Soviet Mars 2 Crash Lands on Mars' surface
Try to get picture the atmosphere in the mission control room of the Soviet space program in November 1971.
Soviet mission control center
6 months ...
25 November 2015 - President Obama Signs the SPACE Act Into Law
On 25 November 2015, United States President Barack Obama signed the Spurring Private Aerospace Competitiveness and Entrepreneurship (SPACE) Act into law.
The law is a first of its kind. It gives U.S. citizens the right to "engage in the commercial exploration and exploitation of 'space resources' [including ... water and minerals]".
20 November 1998 - Zarya Launches, The First International Space Station Module
Image credit: NASA
On 20 November 1998, the first module of the ISS (or international space station) was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome i...
17 November 1970 - Lunokhod 1 Becomes The First Lunar Rover
After a failed launch of a first rover, Lunokhod 1 was launched on the Luna 17 spacecraft on 10 November 1970 from Baikonur, Kazachstan.
After ...
15 November 1988 - Soviet Space Shuttle Buran's Maiden Flight
On 15 November 1988, the Soviets launched the Buran, Orbiter K1. The first flight of its Space Shuttle program.
It was the first time the Soviets ...
14 November 1971 - Mariner 9 Becomes First Spacecraft to Orbit Mars
Image credit: NASA
On 14 November 1971, the NASA Mariner 9 became the first spacecraft to orbit a planet other than Earth!
This achievement beat th...
12 November 2014 - Philae Successfully Lands on Comet 67P
The Rosetta, an ESA probe, was launched on 2 March 2004 and arrived at the comet 10 years later on 6 August 2014.
It's mission was to perform a det...
3 November 1957 - Laika Becomes the First Animal Launched In Earth Orbit
On the morning of 3 November 1957, Sputnik 2 launches from Baikonur, Kazakhstan.
On board: Laika, a stray dog from the streets of Moscow, the first...
29 October 1998 - John Glenn Becomes to Oldest Astronaut Ever (77)
Image credit: NASA
John Glenn was the first American to encircle the Earth. Something he did three times in 1962.
On 29 October 1998, John Glenn...
28 October 1971 - The United Kingdom launches its Prospero satellite
On 28 October 1971, the United Kingdom launched the Prospero satellite into low Earth orbit.It was launched from Woomera, Australia on a Black Ar...
27 October 1961 - Saturn I SA-1 Launch
Image credit: NASA
27 October 1961 marked the first flight of the new Saturn I rocket. The launch took place from Cape Canaveral, Florida and it m...
24 October 1946 - V2 Rocket Takes First Photo of Earth From Space
This was the first image of Earth from space
On October 24, 1946, over a year after the end of World War 2 a German V2 rocket launched from the W...