JANUARY January 1 Discovery of the Planetoids by Italian astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi (1801). January 2 Russia's Luna 1 launched to become the first spacecraft to pass close to the Moon (1959). January 7 Galileo discovered four satellites of Jupiter (1610). January 8 Died Galileo Galilei, Italian astronomer and physicist, one of the founders of modern science (1642). Born Prof Stephen Hawking, mathematician and author of 'A Brief History Of Time' (1942). January 13 NASA selected its first women astronauts (1978). January 20 Born Edwin Aldrin, US astronaut (1930). January 24 Russian satellite fell out of orbit and crashed near Yellow Knife, Canada (1978). January 27 3 US astronauts died when fire broke out aboard the Apollo spacecraft during tests (1967). January 28 US space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after lift off, killing all 7 of its crew (1986). January 31 First US satellite, Explorer I, discovered the Van Allen radiation belts (1958). Apollo 14 was launched on the moon mission from Cape Kennedy (1971). FEBRUARY February 3 Soviet spacecraft Luna 9 reached the moon, sending back TV pictures (1966). February 4 Using a giant mirror in orbit, Russian scientists flashed a beam of sunlight across Europe (1993). February 8 US Skylab station returned to Earth after 85 days in space (1974). February 15 Born Galileo Galilei, Italian astronomer and physicist (1564). February 19 Born Nicolaus Copernicus, Polish astronomer (1473). February 20 US astronaut John Glenn orbited Earth 3 times in his space capsule Friendship 7 (1962). February 25 The US spacecraft Pioneer 10 was launched on its journey to Jupiter (1972). February 29 First pulsar discovered by English astronomer Jocelyn Bell (1967). MARCH March 1 Uncrewed Soviet spacecraft Venus 3 landed on Venus (1966). March 3 The Apollo 9 spacecraft was launched from Cape Kennedy (1969). March 4 Born Patrick Moore, astronomer and TV presenter (1923). March 7 Born Sir John Frederick William Herschel, astronomer (1792). March 9 Born Yuri Gagarin, Russian astronaut (1934). March 13 Comet Halley came to its perihelion, as predicted in 1682 (1758). Planet Uranus discovered by William Herschel, German-born British astronomer (1781). March 16 Soviet cosmonauts completed an orbit of 35 million miles (1978). March 17 Vanguard I spacecraft was launched at Cape Canaveral (1958). March 18 Planet Pluto discovered by US astronomer Clyde Tombaugh (1930). First walk in space, by Soviet astronaut Alexei Leonov (1965). March 19 First recorded solar eclipse, Babylon (721BC). March 20 Died Sir Isaac Newton, English mathematician and physicist (1727). March 21 The London Planetarium opened (1958). March 29 US spacecraft Mariner 10 to take close-up photographs of the planet Mercury (1974). APRIL April 1 US launched Tiros I, the first weather satellite (1960). April 6 US launched Early Bird, the first commercial communications satellite (1965). April 12 First recoverable and reusable spacecraft launched, the NASA space-shuttle Columbia (1981). April 19 First orbital space station, USSR Salyut 1, named after the Russian word meaning 'salute' (1971). April 24 First person killed in space research, V Komarov, when USSR Soyuz 1 crashed on Earth (1967). MAY May 5 First person to orbit the Earth, Yuri Gagarin, aboard spacecraft USSR Vostok I (1961). May 16 The Soviet spacecraft Venus 5 touched down on Venus (1969). JUNE June 3 First US astronaut to walk in space, Ed White, spent 21 minutes outside Gemini 4 (1965). June 8 Born Giovanni Cassini, Italian-born French astronomer (1625). June 16 Valentina Tereshkova, aboard USSR Vostok 6, became the first woman in space (1963). June 24 Born Sir Fred Hoyle, astronomer and writer of science fiction (1915). JULY July 11 US Skylab I space laboratory returned to Earth after 6 years in space (1979). July 15 US Mariner satellite transmitted the first close-up pictures of Mars (1965). July 17 US Apollo 18 and USSR Soyuz 19 spacecraft successfully docked while in orbit (1975). July 20 First men to walk on the moon, US astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin (1969). After a journey of 11 months, US spacecraft Viking I made a landing on Mars (1975). July 22 Russian unmanned spacecraft Venera 8 made a soft landing on Venus (1972). July 30 TV transmission of pictures from Mars were sent back to Earth by US Mariner 6 spacecraft (1969). July 31 First drive on the moon by US astronauts David Scott and James Irwin (1971). AUGUST August 5 Born Neil Armstrong, American astronaut (1930). August 10 US launched Orbiter I, their first lunar satellite (1966). August 11 The moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos, discovered by US astronomer Asaph Hall (1877). August 12 US launched Echo, the world's first communications satellite (1969). August 19 Born John Flamsteed, first Astronomer Royal (1646). August 25 US space probe Voyager reached Neptune and revealed the existence of 2 additional moons (1989). August 27 The USSR launched Sputnik 3, carrying two dogs (1958). SEPTEMBER September 3 US spacecraft Viking 2 landed on Mars and began sending pictures back to Earth (1976). September 14 First spacecraft to land on the moon, USSR Luna 2 (1959). September 23 Johann Galle, German astronomer, discovered the planet Neptune (1846). OCTOBER October 2 First telescope demonstrated by the Dutch lens maker, Hans Lipperschey (1608). October 4 USSR launched Sputnik I, the first space satellite (1957). First close-up pictures of the moon were made from the Soviet Lunik III (1959). October 7 First photograph of the far side of the Moon transmitted from USSR Lunik III (1959). October 11 Apollo 7 spacecraft, with a crew of three, launched from Cape Kennedy (1968). USSR Salyut 6 returned to Earth, its cosmonauts had been in space for a record 185 days (1980). October 14 US Mariner 9 transmitted the first close-up TV pictures of Mars (1971). October 29 Born Edmond Halley, English astronomer and mathematician (1656). NOVEMBER November 3 Dog named Laika, first living animal from Earth in space, aboard USSR Sputnik II (1957). November 12 Died Percival Lowell, US astronomer (1916). November 15 Died Johannes Kepler, German astronomer, discover of laws governing planetary motion (1630). Born Sir William Herschel, astronomer (1738). November 16 USSR launched Venus III, an unmanned spacecraft which successfully landed on Venus (1965). November 17 USSR Luna 17 landed on the Moon and released the first moonwalker vehicle (1970). November 19 The lunar module from the US spacecraft Apollo 12 touched down on the moon (1969). November 20 Born Edwin Powell Hubble, American astronomer (1899). DECEMBER December 1 The Isaac Newton Telescope was inaugurated at the Royal Greenwich Observatory (1967). December 11 5th and last US landing on the moon by President Kennedy's Apollo space programme (1972). December 14 Born Tycho Brahe, Danish astronomer and mathematician (1546). December 21 First manned flight around the moon took place when Apollo 8 was launched (1969). December 25 Born Sir Isaac Newton, English mathematician and physicist (1642). December 27 Born Johannes Kepler, German astronomer (1571). December 31 Died John Flamsteed, first Astronomer Royal (1719).