2020 ⟶ Discovery of Surface Water on the Moon
NASA and SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astro...
Year
1959
1968
2013
2019
2020
🌑 Soviet Luna Program Achieves Lunar Firsts
The USSR and the US both launch probes to the Moon, but NASA's Pioneer probes all failed. The Soviet Luna program was more successful. Luna 2 crash-lands on the Moon's surface in September, and Luna 3 returns the first pictures of the Moon's farside in October.⟶
Space ExplorationMoonLuna ProgramSpace RaceSoviet UnionNASALunar MissionsPioneer Probes
Soviet Union
United States🚀 Apollo 8: First Human Spaceflight to Orbit Another Celestial Body
☄️ First Extrasolar Asteroid Detected with Water
In October 2013, the first extrasolar asteroid is detected around white dwarf star GD 61. It is also the first detected extrasolar body which contains water in liquid or solid form.⟶
AstronomyExoplanetsAsteroidsWhite DwarfWaterGD 61Extrasolar BodiesExo-asteroids
United States
Germany🇨🇳 Chang'e 4 Soft Landing on the Far Side of the Moon
China's Chang'e 4 became the first spacecraft to perform a soft landing on the far side of the Moon.⟶
Space ExplorationLunar ExplorationChang'e 4MoonFar Side of the MoonChina National Space Administration
China
🚀 NASA Launches Mars 2020 Mission and SpaceX Demo-2
NASA launches Mars 2020 to Mars with a Mars rover and a small helicopter that was named Perseverance and Ingenuity by seventh grader Alexander Mather and eleventh grader Vaneeza Rupani respectively in a naming contest. First human orbital spaceflight launched by a private company occurred when SpaceX Demo-2 carrying astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley was launched to the International Space Station.⟶
Space ExplorationMarsSpaceXNASARoverHelicopterInternational Space StationPrivate Spaceflight21st Century
United States