Exploration & Space History: What Happened On This Day
Find your date below: 39 days of the year, each with a exploration event from history between 1836 and 2020, its year and a link to the full story in our history calendar.
Journeys into the unknown: polar expeditions, record flights and crossings, and spacecraft sent into orbit, to the Moon, the planets and beyond. Every day is also a round of Years Ago, our daily history game, so days playing today or in the next 30 days are left out until they have played.
January
January 19, 2006
NASA launches New Horizons, the first spacecraft sent to Pluto.
January 31, 1971
Apollo 14 launches with Alan Shepard, America's first astronaut, heading for the Moon.
February
February 24, 2011
Space Shuttle Discovery lifts off on STS-133, its 39th and final mission.
March
March 18, 1965
Alexei Leonov leaves the Voskhod 2 capsule and becomes the first person to walk in space.
March 29, 1974
Farmers digging a well in China discover the Terracotta Army of the first emperor, Qin Shi Huang.
March 31, 1966
The Soviet Union launches Luna 10, which becomes the first spacecraft to orbit the Moon.
April
April 7, 2001
NASA launches the Mars Odyssey orbiter, which becomes the longest-working spacecraft at Mars.
April 11, 1970
Apollo 13 launches for the Moon; an explosion two days later turns it into a rescue mission.
April 16, 1972
Apollo 16 launches, the first Moon landing mission to explore the lunar highlands.
May
May 4, 1989
Space Shuttle Atlantis launches the Magellan probe, which maps the surface of Venus by radar.
May 9, 2003
Japan launches Hayabusa, a probe to collect samples from the asteroid Itokawa.
May 11, 2009
Space Shuttle Atlantis launches on the last mission to repair and upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope.
May 15, 1958
The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 3, a large orbiting laboratory for studying the upper atmosphere.
May 16, 2011
Space Shuttle Endeavour launches on STS-134, its final mission, carrying a cosmic-ray detector to the ISS.
May 18, 1969
Apollo 10 launches on a full dress rehearsal for the first Moon landing.
May 20, 1978
NASA launches the Pioneer Venus Orbiter to map the clouded planet with radar.
June
June 16, 1963
Valentina Tereshkova launches aboard Vostok 6, becoming the first woman in space.
June 17, 1985
Space Shuttle Discovery launches STS-51-G, with the first Arab and Muslim astronaut aboard.
June 18, 1983
Sally Ride launches aboard the space shuttle Challenger, becoming the first American woman in space.
July
July 22, 2019
India launches Chandrayaan-2, carrying an orbiter, a lander and a rover to the Moon.
July 26, 1971
Apollo 15 launches, the first Moon mission to carry a lunar rover.
July 28, 1964
NASA launches Ranger 7, which sends back the first close-up photos of the Moon before crashing into it.
July 29, 1958
President Eisenhower signs the National Aeronautics and Space Act, creating NASA.
July 30, 2020
NASA launches the Perseverance rover to Mars, with the small helicopter Ingenuity tucked underneath.
August
August 3, 2004
NASA launches MESSENGER, which becomes the first spacecraft to orbit Mercury.
August 4, 2007
NASA launches the Phoenix lander, which later digs up water ice near the Martian north pole.
August 6, 1961
Gherman Titov launches on Vostok 2 and becomes the first person to spend a full day in orbit.
August 26, 1978
Soyuz 31 carries Sigmund Jähn into orbit, making him the first German in space.
August 30, 1984
Space Shuttle Discovery launches on its first mission, STS-41-D.
September
September 5, 1977
NASA launches Voyager 1, which would become the most distant human-made object.
October
October 2, 1836
HMS Beagle drops anchor at Falmouth, bringing Charles Darwin home after nearly five years at sea.
October 4, 1957
The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite to orbit Earth.
October 7, 1959
The Soviet probe Luna 3 takes the first photographs of the far side of the Moon.
October 11, 1982
The wreck of Henry VIII's warship Mary Rose is lifted from the seabed of the Solent, watched live by millions.
November
November 26, 1965
France launches Astérix, its first satellite, becoming the third nation to reach orbit with its own rocket.
November 29, 1961
NASA's Mercury-Atlas 5 carries the chimpanzee Enos into orbit, clearing the way for an American astronaut.
December
December 5, 2014
NASA's Orion spacecraft makes its first flight, Exploration Flight Test-1, orbiting Earth twice.
December 7, 1972
Apollo 17 astronauts photograph the whole sunlit Earth, creating the famous 'Blue Marble' image.
December 21, 1968
Apollo 8 launches, carrying the first humans to leave Earth orbit and circle the Moon.
Frequently asked questions
- What counts as a exploration event?
- Journeys into the unknown: polar expeditions, record flights and crossings, and spacecraft sent into orbit, to the Moon, the planets and beyond.
- Why are some days of the year missing?
- Our history calendar has one event for each day, and this page lists the days whose event is about exploration. Every day is also a round of Years Ago, our daily history game, so a day playing today or in the next 30 days is left out until it has played, and then comes back.
- How are the dates checked?
- Each event was checked against at least 2 independent sources, linked on its day in the history calendar, and the summary is written in our own words.
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