Author: M. Özgür Nevres

I am a software developer and a science enthusiast. I was graduated from the Istanbul Technical University (ITU), Computer Engineering. In the past, I worked at the Istanbul Technical University Science Center as a science instructor. I write about the planet Earth and science on this website, ourplnt.com. I am also an animal lover! I take care of stray cats & dogs. This website's all income goes directly to our furry friends. Please consider supporting me on Patreon, so I can help more animals!

This Day in Science, Technology, Astronomy, and Space Exploration History Space Exploration

Valeri Polyakov set the longest duration spaceflight record (437.7 days) on March 22, 1995

Post author By M. Özgür Nevres
Post date March 22, 2022
No Comments on Valeri Polyakov set the longest duration spaceflight record (437.7 days) on March 22, 1995

Valeri Polyakov, 1995 — Valeri Polyakov observes rendezvous operations with the Space Shuttle Discovery on its STS-63 mission through a window on the Mir Core Module in February 1995.

On March 22, 1995, Russian cosmonaut Valeri Vladimirovich Polyakov returned to Earth from space aboard Soyuz TM-20. During this flight (it was Polyakov’s second spaceflight), he completed just over 7,000 orbits of the Earth. On 9 January 1995, after 366 days in space, Polyakov formally broke the spaceflight duration record previously set by the Soviet cosmonauts Vladimir Titov and Musa Manarov six years earlier. The previous record was 365 days 22 hours 38 minutes.

Upon returning to Earth, Polyakov spent 437 days, 17 hours, and 58 minutes in space and set the longest duration spaceflight record that still stands.

Today’s (March 22) story of what happened this day in Science, Technology, Astronomy, and Space Exploration history.

This Day in Science, Technology, Astronomy, and Space Exploration History Astronomy

ESA’s Planck spacecraft revealed the most detailed map of the Cosmic Microwave Background on March 21, 2013

Post author By M. Özgür Nevres
Post date March 21, 2022
No Comments on ESA’s Planck spacecraft revealed the most detailed map of the Cosmic Microwave Background on March 21, 2013

On March 21, 2013, European Space Agency‘s (ESA) Planck spacecraft revealed the most detailed map ever created of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB, CMBR).

Today’s (March 21) story of what happened this day in Science, Technology, Astronomy, and Space Exploration history.

This Day in Science, Technology, Astronomy, and Space Exploration History Astronomy Solar System

Cassini discovered Saturn’s moons Tethys and Dione on March 21, 1864

Post author By M. Özgür Nevres
Post date March 21, 2022
No Comments on Cassini discovered Saturn’s moons Tethys and Dione on March 21, 1864

On March 21, 1864, the Italian mathematician, astronomer, and engineer Giovanni Domenico Cassini (8 June 1625 – 14 September 1712) discovered Saturn’s moons Tethys and Dione. Cassini used a refractor telescope with an aperture of 108 mm to make this observation.

Today’s (March 21) story of what happened this day in Science, Technology, Astronomy, and Space Exploration history.

This Day in Science, Technology, Astronomy, and Space Exploration History Physics

Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity was published as an academic paper on March 20, 1916

Post author By M. Özgür Nevres
Post date March 20, 2022
No Comments on Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity was published as an academic paper on March 20, 1916

Albert Einstein in 1916 — Albert Einstein (March 14, 1879 - April 18, 1955), in the Austrian-Dutch theoretical physicist Paul Ehrenfest's (18 January 1880 - 25 September 1933) home library (Leiden, Witte Rozenstraat), where Einstein lived in 1916. Cropped image.

On March 20, 1916, Albert Einstein sent a paper to Annalen der Physik, one of the oldest scientific journals on physics which has been published since 1799. The study was titled “Die Grundlage der Allgemeinen Relativitatstheorie”, translated as “The Foundation of the General Theory of Relativity.” It was the first comprehensive overview of the final version of Einstein’s theory of general relativity after several expositions in preliminary versions.

Today’s (March 20) story of what happened this day in Science, Technology, Astronomy, and Space Exploration history.

This Day in Science, Technology, Astronomy, and Space Exploration History Software Technology

IBM.com and sun.com were registered on March 19, 1986

Post author By M. Özgür Nevres
Post date March 19, 2022
No Comments on IBM.com and sun.com were registered on March 19, 1986

IBM PC XT with green monochrome phosphor screen and 10MB full height 5,25" hard disk drive. By Ruben de Rijcke - Own work, CC BY 3.0, Link

On March 19, 1986, IBM.com and sun.com domains were registered. These domains are the 11th and 12th oldest registered domains in history.

Today’s (March 19) story of what happened this day in Science, Technology, Astronomy, and Space Exploration history.

Space Exploration This Day in Science, Technology, Astronomy, and Space Exploration History

The first spacewalk was performed by Alexei Leonov on March 18, 1965

Post author By M. Özgür Nevres
Post date March 18, 2022
No Comments on The first spacewalk was performed by Alexei Leonov on March 18, 1965

The Spacewalker — The 2017 movie successfully tells the story above, the story of humanity's first-ever spacewalk. Two men in a tiny spaceship, without proper testing, facing the complete unknown. Voskhod 2 (English: 'Sunrise-2') was a Soviet manned space mission in March 1965. The Vostok-based Voskhod 3KD spacecraft with two crew members on board, Pavel Belyayev, and Alexey Leonov, was equipped with an inflatable airlock. On March 18, 1965, it established another milestone in space exploration when Alexey Leonov became the first person to leave the spacecraft in a specialized spacesuit to conduct a 12-minute 9-seconds "spacewalk".

On March 18, 1965, Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov stepped out from his Voskhod 2 spacecraft into the void of space and performed the first spacewalk in the history of space exploration.

Today’s (March 18) story of what happened this day in Science, Technology, Astronomy, and Space Exploration history.

Astronomy

James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) took its first aligned image of a star

Post author By M. Özgür Nevres
Post date March 16, 2022
No Comments on James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) took its first aligned image of a star

James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has taken its first aligned image of a star — Following the completion of critical mirror alignment steps, James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has taken its first sharp and aligned image of a star. NASA has announced that the optics of the space telescope are working as expected. While the purpose of this image was to focus on the bright star at the center for alignment evaluation, Webb's optics and NIRCam are so sensitive that the galaxies and stars seen in the background show up. At this stage of Webb's mirror alignment, known as "fine phasing," each of the primary mirror segments have been adjusted to produce one unified image of the same star using only the NIRCam instrument. This image of the star, which is called 2MASS J17554042+6551277, uses a red filter to optimize visual contrast. Photo Credits: NASA/STScI

March 16, 2022, was a huge milestone for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST): the alignment process of the telescope’s mirrors has finally been completed successfully and it produced the first unified, aligned, and bright image of a single star. NASA announces JWST’s optics are working as expected. The space telescope was reported to be “fully focused”.

This Day in Science, Technology, Astronomy, and Space Exploration History Solar System Space Exploration

Giotto spacecraft made the closest approach to Halley’s Comet on March 13, 1986

Post author By M. Özgür Nevres
Post date March 13, 2022
No Comments on Giotto spacecraft made the closest approach to Halley’s Comet on March 13, 1986

Artist rendering of Giotto spacecraft approaching Halley comet — Artist's rendering of European Space Agency's Giotto spacecraft approaching Halley's comet. By Andrzej Mirecki - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

On March 13, 1986, European Space Agency‘s (ESA) Giotto spacecraft made the closest approach to Halley’s Comet at a distance of 596 kilometers (370 miles).

Today’s (March 13) story of what happened this day in Science, Technology, Astronomy, and Space Exploration history.

This Day in Science, Technology, Astronomy, and Space Exploration History Software Technology

Tim Berners-Lee made the first proposal for a World Wide Web on March 12, 1989

Post author By M. Özgür Nevres
Post date March 12, 2022
No Comments on Tim Berners-Lee made the first proposal for a World Wide Web on March 12, 1989

Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web

On March 12, 1989, the English computer scientist who invented the World Wide Web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee sent a document to his colleagues at CERN titled “Information Management: A Proposal”. This proposal concerned the management of general information about the particle accelerators and experiments at The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). In the proposal, Berners-Lee discussed the problems of information loss about complex evolving systems and suggested a solution based on a distributed hypertext system, which eventually became the World Wide Web, an Internet-based hypermedia initiative for global information sharing.

Today’s (March 12) story of what happened this day in Science, Technology, Astronomy, and Space Exploration history.

This Day in Science, Technology, Astronomy, and Space Exploration History Biology People

Covid-19 was declared a pandemic on March 11, 2020

Post author By M. Özgür Nevres
Post date March 11, 2022
No Comments on Covid-19 was declared a pandemic on March 11, 2020

This image is a computer-generated representation of COVID-19 virions (SARS-CoV-2) under an electron microscope. By the Wikipedia user Felipe Esquivel Reed - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link

Covid-19, the highly-contagious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11, 2020.

Today’s (March 11) story of what happened this day in Science, Technology, Astronomy, and Space Exploration history.