From: baalke@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov (Ron Baalke)
Newsgroups: sci.astro,alt.sci.planetary,sci.space.shuttle,sci.astro.amateur
Subject: This Month in Space History - January
Date: 31 Dec 1995 23:11 UT
Organization: Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Distribution: world


THIS MONTH IN SPACE HISTORY - JANUARY

This is a list of significent dates in space history during the month of
January.  Compiled by Ron Baalke (baalke@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov), it is also
available on the World Wide Web:

http://newproducts.jpl.nasa.gov/calendar/history.html


Jaunary 1
     In 1801, Guiseppe Piazzi discovered the first asteroid, Ceres. Ceres is
     the largest asteroid found in the main asteroid belt.

January 2
     In 1959, the USSR launched Luna 1 and it became the first spacecraft to
     leave Earth's gravity. It was originally intended to impact the Moon, but
     instead missed it by about 5000 km, and became the first man-made artifact
     to enter solar orbit.

January 2
     In 1972, Mariner 9 is finally able to begin mapping Mars. The mapping was
     delayed 7 weeks due to a planet-wide dust storm.

January 5
     In 1905, Charles Perrine discovers a new moon around Saturn, Elara. Elara
     is only about 80 km in diameter.

January 5
     In 1969, the USSR launched Venera 5 to Venus. Arriving at Venus on May 16,
     1969, Venera 5 deployed a atmospheric probe which parachuted into the
     atmosphere. The probe measured the atmosphere as it floated down before
     succumbing to the high temperatures and pressure.

January 5
     In 1972, NASA begins development of the Space Shuttle program.

January 5
     In 1987, the debris from the space shuttle Challenger explosion is buried
     in missile silos at Cape Canaveral.

January 6
     In 1968, Surveyor 7 was launched to the Moon. It landed on the lunar
     surface 4 days later near Crater Tycho and performed some soil analysis.
     Surveyor 7 sent back 20,993 images from the surface of the Moon.

January 7
     In 1610, Galileo discovers three major moons around Jupiter: Io, Europa
     and Callisto. This provided proof that not all bodies revolved around the
     Earth, which was the belief at that time. These moons plus a fourth
     discovered 6 days later, would later become known as the Galilean moons.

January 7
     In 1985, Japan launched a spacecraft named Sakigake (Japanese word for
     "Pioneer"). Sakigake was Japan's first deep space probe and its mission
     was to measure the solar wind and magnetic field as it flew by Halley's
     Comet. On March 11, 1986, Sakigake made its closest approach to Halley's
     Comet at a distance of 6.99 million km.

January 8
     Stephen Hawking, a brilliant British theoretical astrophysist, was born in
     1942.

January 8
     In 1973, the USSR launched Luna 21 and it landed on the Moon 7 days later
     near the Sea of Serenity. The second unmanned lunar rover, Lunokhod 2, was
     deployed. Lunokhod 2 lasted 5 lunar days and traversed 37 km. It also
     returned 80,000 images and was even struck by laser beams from the Pic du
     Midi Observatories.

January 9
     In 1839, Thomas Henderson, using geometrical parallax, makes the first
     measurement of the distance to a distance star (Alpha Centauri).

January 9
     In 1990, space shuttle Columbia was launched on the STS-32 mission. A
     Syncom defense communications satelite was deployed, and the Long
     Durations Exposure Facility (LDEF) was retrieved from Earth orbit.

January 10
     In 1946, the US Army bounced a radar beam off the Moon.

January 10
     In 1969, the USSR launched Venera 6 to Venus. It arrived at Venus on March
     17, and a descent capsule entered the atmosphere on the planet's dark
     side. The Venera 6 capsule transmitted data for 51 minutes before being
     crushed.

January 10
     In 1978, Soyuz 27 was launched carrying cosmonauts Vladimir Dzhanibekov
     and Oleg Makarov. The cosmonauts spent six days in space and were the
     first to visit the Salyut 6 space station.

January 11
     In 1787, William Herschell discovered two new moons around Uranus, Titania
     and Oberon.

January 11
     In 1975, Soyuz 17 was launched carrying cosmonauts Georgi Grechko and
     Alexei Gubarev on the first visit to the Salyut 4 space station. The
     cosmonauts stayed for 30 days.

January 12
     In 1986, space shuttle Columbia was launched on the STS-61C mission, which
     deployed a communications satellite. The flight also carried Congressman
     Bill Nelson, the first US House of Representative in space. This was the
     last shuttle flight prior to the Challenger explosion.

January 13
     In 1610, Galileo Galilei discovered the fourth moon around Jupiter,
     Ganymede.

January 13
     In 1978, women are selected for the first time by NASA in its group of
     astronaut candidates.

January 13
     In 1993, space shuttle Endeavour is launched on STS-54. The fifth Tracking
     and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS-F) is deployed.

January 14
     In 1969, Soyuz 4 was launched for a rendezvous with Soyuz 5, which was
     launched the next day. Two cosmonauts in Soyuz 5 left in spacesuits and
     pulled themselves along handrails into Soyuz 4, completing the first ever
     crew transfer in space.

January 15
     In 1976, Helios 2 was launched to observe the Sun and its solar wind.
     Helios 2 was constructed in West Germany and launched by theU.S. from Cape
     Canaveral in Florida. Because it was equipped with special heat-dispersal
     systems, the spacecraft were able to withstand extremely high
     temperatures, which reached an estimated 700 F (370 C). Helios 2's orbit
     took it 28 million miles from the Sun, the closest any spacecraft has
     approached the Sun. IT returned useful data about the Sun's magnetic
     field, the solar wind, the relative strength of cosmic rays, and
     measurements of meteoroid loss from the solar system.

January 19
     In 1747, Johann Bode was born. Bode is famous for the Titus-Bode law,
     which is a nearly geometric progression of the planet distances from the
     Sun.

January 20
     In 1573, Simon Mayr was born. Mayr observed the moons of Jupiter at around
     the same time as Galileo, and gave the moons discovered by Galileo the
     Greek names that are in use today.

January 21
     In 1819, John Couch Adams was born. Adams would predict the existence of
     Neptune.

January 21
     In 1960, a Mercury capsule Little Joe 4 was launched on a suborbital
     flight carrying a monkey named "Miss Sam".

January 22
     In 1968, Apollo 5, an unmanned Apollo Lunar Module, is launched on a
     Saturn 1B for tests in Earth orbit.

January 22
     In 1978, the USSR's Progress 1, the first automatic resupply ship, docks
     with the Salyut 6 space station.

January 24
     In 1882, Harold Babcock was born. Babcock was an American solar astronomer
     who proposed in 1961 that the sunspot cycle was a result of the Sun's
     differential rotation and magnetic field.

January 24
     In 1978, the Soviet Cosmos 954 satellite reenters Earth's atmosphere.
     Parts of the satellite survive the reentry and land in Canada.

January 24
     In 1985, the space shuttle Discovery was launched on flight STS-51C on the
     Shuttle's first DOD mission. A military spy satellite was deployed.

January 24
     In 1986, Voyager 2 made the first and only flyby of the planet Uranus.

January 24
     In 1990, Japan launched it first spacecraft to the Moon, Hiten. Hiten was
     initially launched into Earth orbit. The spacecraft was then known as
     MUSES-A, but was renamed to Hiten once in orbit. The 195 kg probe looped
     out from Earth and made its first lunary flyby on March 19, where it
     dropped off its 12 kg midget satellite, Hagoromo. Japan at this point
     became the third nation to orbit a satellite around the Moon, joining the
     Unites States and USSR.

January 25
     In 1736, Joseph Lagrange was born. Lagrange was a French mathematician who
     made significent contributions in the field of celestial mechanics.

January 25
     In 1964, Echo 2 is launched into Earth orbit from Vandenberg AFB in
     California.

January 25
     In 1983, the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) is launched into Earth
     orbit.

January 25
     In 1994, the Clementine spacecraft is launched to the Moon. Clementine
     went into lunar orbit and completed a successful mineralogical mapping of
     the Moon. The mission failed in its attempt to flyby the asteroid
     Geographos. A bad command sent to the spacecraft caused it to malfunction
     and use up all of its remaining propellant and spin out of control.

January 26
     In 1962, Ranger 3 was launched towards the Moon. Intended to impact on the
     Moon, a launch malfunction resulted in the spacecraft missing the Moon by
     22,862 miles.

January 26
     In 1978, the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) was launched into
     Earth orbit.

January 27
     In 1967, the three-man crew of Apollo 1 were killed in a fire on the
     launchpad during a preflight launch test. The astronauts killed were
     Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee.

January 28
     In 1611, astronomer Johannes Hevelius was born. Hevelius published the
     "Selenographia" in 1647, the first detailed maps of the Moon.

January 28
     In 1986, space shuttle Challenger exploded 72 seconds into lift-off,
     killing all seven astronauts aboard: Francis "Dick" Scobee, Michael Smith,
     Judith Resnik, Ellison Onizuka, Ronald McNair, Gregory Jarvis, and Sharon
     Christa McAuliffe. The cause of the explosion was traced to a faulty
     O-Ring that allowed leakage in the solid fuel booster. The next shuttle
     launch will not occur until almost 3 years later.

January 29
     In 1989, the USSR's Phobos 2 arrives in orbit around Mars. After about 2
     months in orbit, contact was lost with the spacecraft as it was
     approaching the Mars moon Phobos to drop off a couple of landers and a
     mobile "hopper". The mission officially ended on March 27, 1989 when the
     spacecraft signal failed to be recovered.

January 30
     In 1964, Ranger 6 was launched to to the Moon. Ranger 6 impacted in the
     Sea of Tranquility on February 2, but the TV cameras failed to turn on and
     no images were returned.

January 31
     In 1948, the first research photos are taken at Mt. Palomar using the Hale
     200-inch telescope, the world's largest telescope at that time.

January 31
     In 1958, the US launched its first satellite into Earth orbit, Explorer 1.
     JPL designed and built the 14 kg (31 pound) satellite, and did so just 66
     days after receiving approval to begin the project. The Redstone launch
     vehicle was provided by the Wernher von Braun team. The launch took place
     from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 10:40 PM EST. Explorer
     1 discovered a radiation belt around the Earth, which were identified by
     Dr. James Van Allen of the Univeristy of Iowa. Explorer 1 stopped
     transmitting on February 28, 1958 and reentered the atmosphere in 1970.

January 31
     In 1961, Mercury capsule MR-2 was launched on a Redstone rocket on a
     16-minute suborbital flight that reached to an altitude of 158 miles.
     Onboard was a chimpanzee named Ham.

January 31
     In 1966, the USSR launched Luna 9 to the Moon. Luna landed four days later
     near the Ocean of Storms, and became the first spacecraft to successfully
     soft-land on the Moon's surface.

January 31
     In 1971, Apollo 14 was launched for the third manned Moon landing.
     Carrying Alan Shepard, Stuart Roosa and Edgar Mitchell, the mission lasted
     216 hours. Shepard and Roosa stayed for over 33 hours on the Moon and
     collected 96 pounds of lunar rock samples. Shepard also made the first
     golf shot from the surface of the Moon.


      ___    _____     ___
     /_ /|  /____/ \  /_ /|     Ron Baalke         | baalke@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov
     | | | |  __ \ /| | | |     Jet Propulsion Lab | 
  ___| | | | |__) |/  | | |__   Pasadena, CA       | Help!  I've posted and I
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