Space History - the Week of December 21

1966

The USSR launched Luna 13 on a mission to soft-land on the Moon.

1968

NASA launched Apollo 8, the first manned mission to orbit the Moon from the Kennedy Space Center. The astronauts would make ten orbits of the Moon on Christmas Eve, when it would take the first close-up photographs of the lunar surface

1978

The Soviet space probe Venera 12 entered the atmosphere of the planet Venus and landed on its surface, from which it would return data for approximately one hundred and ten minutes. During that time, it would record evidence of electrical discharges which would be later attributed to lightning.

1984

The USSR launched the Vega 2 space probe on a mission to perform a fly-by of Halley's Comet, which it would perform on March 9, 1986.

1987

The Soyuz spacecraft TM-4 carried three cosmonauts on a mission to space station Mir.

1988

One year to the day after being launched into space, the former crew of the TM-4, Vladimir Titov, Anatoly Levchenko, and Musa Manarov Vladimir return to Earth.

1999

Galaxy XI, the world's largest commercial communications satellite, was launched. It was equipped with a record sixty-four transponders.

1870

Jules Janssen made the first observations of a solar eclipse from a hot air balloon in history.

1985

NASA moved the Space Shuttle Challenger (STS 51-L) to Launch Pad 39B.

2006

The Space Shuttle Discovery sets down at the Kennedy Space Center at the conclusion of a two-week mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

1672

Italian astronomer Giovanni Cassini discovered Rhea, one of Saturn's satellites.

1690

John Flamsteed observes Uranus without realizing it is undiscovered.

1968

Aboard the Apollo 8, Mission Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot James Lovell, and Lunar Module Pilot William Anders became the first humans to orbit the Moon. Frank Borman suffers from the first documented case of space motion sickness. The incident was later attributed to the large Command Module, which afforded the astronauts a far wider range of movement than on previous missions.

1986

Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager made the first round-the-world flight that didn't land for refueling aboard the Model 76 Voyager.