Apollo 7, the first crewed flight in NASA’s Apollo program was launched on October 11, 1968, exactly ten years after the space agency’s first launch. The mission successfully demonstrated the crewed performance of the Command and Service Modules and featured the first American live broadcast from space.
Category Archives: This Day in Science, Technology, Astronomy, and Space Exploration History
The first photo of the far side of the Moon was taken by Luna 3 on October 7, 1959
On October 7, 1959, Soviet Union’s Luna 3 spacecraft photographed the far side of the moon for the first time ever. These photographs, despite being of poor quality, caused excitement when they were published because the humanity had never saw the far side of the moon before.
The first “actual” computer bug was found on September 9, 1947
On September 9, 1947, a team of computer scientists and engineers operating Harward University’s Mark II electromechanical computer started getting an error. They traced the error and found a moth trapped in a relay. The moth was carefully removed and taped to the logbook with a note saying “first actual case of bug being found”. …
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Voyager 1 launch [September 5, 1977]
Voyager 1 launch: On September 5, 1977, NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft was launched on top of a Titan IIIE/Centaur rocket from the Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex in Florida, 16 days after its twin, Voyager 2. The reversal of order was because the two spacecraft were sent on different trajectories, and Voyager 1 was put …
Viking 2 landed on Mars on September 3, 1976
On September 3, 1976, the lander of NASA’s Viking 2 spacecraft (which consisted of an orbiter and a lander) separated from the orbiter and safely landed on Mars.
Pioneer 11 performed the first Saturn flyby on September 1, 1979
On September 1, 1979, NASA’s Pioneer 11 spacecraft performed the first Saturn flyby in the history of space exploration, at a distance of 21,000 km (13,000 miles) from Saturn’s cloud tops.
Guion Bluford became the first black astronaut in space on August 30, 1983
On August 30, 1983, Guion Bluford, better known as Guy, was launched aboard Space Shuttle Challenger’s STS-8 mission on August 30, 1983, he became the first black astronaut in space.
Voyager 1 became the first spacecraft in interstellar space on August 25, 2012
On August 25, 2012, NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft crossed the heliopause, the theoretical boundary of our solar system where the Sun’s solar wind is stopped by the interstellar medium, and became the first spacecraft in interstellar space.
Voyager 2 performed the first Neptune flyby on August 25, 1989
On August 25, 1989, Voyager 2 performed a close Neptune flyby, giving humanity its first close-up of the eighth (and the outermost) planet of our solar system. Neptune was the spacecraft’s final planetary target. That first Neptune flyby was also the last: No other spacecraft has visited Neptune since.
The first photograph of Earth from the Moon’s orbit [August 23, 1966]
On August 23, 1966, NASA’s Lunar Orbiter 1 robotic spacecraft took the first photograph of Earth from the Moon’s orbit.
