This Day in Astro History: December

December 2

1993 - Endeavor STS-61 launched. The first Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission. Mission duration: 10 days, 19 hours, 58 minutes, 37 seconds. A record of five space walks. This mission repaired the faulty optics on HST allowing astronomers a new, clear view of space.

1811 - Benjamin (Don Benito) Wilson's birthday, namesake of Mt. Wilson, CA.

STS 61 Mission Patch

Mars Polar Lander
landing ellipse

December 3

1999 - Mars Polar Lander/Deep Space 2 LOST! Mission controllers never established communications with any of the three spacecraft after orbital insertion.

1974 - Pioneer 11 Flyby Of Jupiter

1973 - The US's Pioneer 10 is the first spacecraft to flyby Jupiter.

1971 -The USSR's Mars 3 becomes the first spacecraft to make a soft landing on the red planet Mars.

1958 - JPL (Jet Propulsion Labratory) transferred from the control of the army to the control of NASA.

The Earth and Moon
from Gemini 7

December 4

1996 - Mars Pathfinder (USA) launched. Pathfinder was designed as a mission to test new technology.

1978 - The US's Pioneer/Venus Orbiter becomes the first spacecraft to orbit Venus.

1965 - Gemini 7 launched. Frank Borman and James A Lovell Jr. completing a 14-day mission (330 hours and 35 minutes) completing 220 orbits. The mission had two goals: to study the long-term effects of space flight and to rendezvous with Gemini 6.

Pathfinder Mission Patch

December 5

2001 - International Space Station - Expedition Four - launch from KSC aboard space shuttle Endevour. Expedition Four Commander Yury I. Onufrienko, Flight Engineers Daniel W. Bursch and Carl E. Walz. Besides continuing to increase science experiments Expedition Four will complete four space walks furthering the construction of ISS.

1990 - The first picture (galaxy NGC 1232 in Eridanus) taken with Keck Telescope in Hawaii is published in Los Angeles Times.

1995 - Galileo Probe descends
into Jovian atmosphere

Apollo 17 Mission Patch

December 7

1995 - Galileo Probe (pdf file) successfully descends into Jupiter's atmosphere and directly measures the atmosphere of a Giant Planet for the first time.

1990 - Spacecraft Galileo approaches the planet Earth on the way from Venus to Jupiter. It becomes the first interplanetary spacecraft that has ever visited the Earth.

1972 - Apollo 17 launched becoming the last Apollo mission. It is also the last time humans landed on the Moon. The mission lasted for 301 hours, 51 minutes, and 59 seconds and returned the greatest amount of lunar samples to Earth. Apollo 17's commander was Eugene A. Cernan, Ronald E. Evans was the command module pilot and Harrison H. Schmitt was the lunar module pilot. Schmitt was also the only professional geologist to go to the Moon. (NASA)

1905 - Gerard Kuiper's birthday, Dutch-born American planetary scientist who discovered

moons of both Uranus (see Feb 16) and Neptune (May 1), and Saturn's moon Titan's atmosphere, and studied the origins of comets and the solar system.

December 11

1863 - Annie Jump Cannon's birthday, pioneer American classifier of stellar spectra, Cannon was an assistant at the Harvard Observatory beginning in 1896.. She brought to completion the Henry Draper Catalog from 1918 to 1924, nine volumes, which became the basis for all modern astronomical stellar spectroscopy. It contains 225,320 stars. The classification system by temperature was her concept, and was universally adopted. Cannon became curator of astronomical photographs of the Observatory in 1911 and professor of astronomy in 1938. She published the Draper Catalogue Extension in two volumes (1925 and 1949), with thousands more stars catalogued. These works were of enormous value to the science of astronomy. Annie Jump Cannon has been inducted into the National Women's hall of Fame. (USA)

December 13

2000 - Scientists, led by Kathie Thomas-Keprta of Lockheed Martin at Johnson Space Center and funded by the NASA Astrobiology Institute, report compelling evidence that primitive life existed on Mars. Tiny magnetite crystals, identical to those used by aqueous bacteria on Earth as compasses to find food and energy, have been found in the Martian meteorite ALH84001. The report on the finding is in the December issue of Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta and strongly supports the primitive life on Mars hypothesis of David McKay and coauthors on August 7, 1996.

Every Year - Geminids

1920 - The first stellar diameter (Betelgeuse) is measured by Francis Pease with an interferometer at Mt.Wilson.

ALH84001

Canadian Space Agency Logo

Tycho Brahe
(1546 - 1601)

December 14

1989 - The Canadian Space Agency was created by an act of Parliament and its mission is to "promote the peaceful use and development of space for the social and economic benefit of Canadians. In 1966, John H. Chapman, who was head of the Alouette project, was given the task of leading a group to conduct a study to establish a basis for a policy on space research in Canada. The plan was issued in 1967 and is known as the Chapman report. In this report, John H. Chapman recommended that the central theme of the space program in Canada be the application to specific Canadian needs. Prime requirements were identified at that time as communications and earth observation. John H. Chapman, whose life-long devotion and contributions to Canadian space research, made him widely recognized as the "Father of the Canadian Space Program."
(Editorial) IMHO, Canadians belonged in space technology in the 1950's. It is true that even in this past decade Canadians need look no farther than the soil at their feet and the water beneath their trawlers to find wealth. But, Alouette (1962) was our first mission to space and with the help of NASA our nation looked up, from this place hooked on the North Pole, and then our national consciousness and dreams re-awoke the sparks of discovery. That our leaders did not think it was important enough to establish our own space agency at that time is a national stupidity. -- C.G.

1962 - The US's Mariner 2 encounters Venus and becomes the first successful interplanetary probe.

1546 - Tycho Brahe's Birthday. Born at Knudstrup, Danish pre-telescopic astronomer who established the first modern observatory and overturned many pre-Copernican theories, and gave Kepler his first job in the field.

December 15

1984 - Vega 1 Launch (Soviet Comet Halley/Venus Mission)

1970 - The USSR's Venera 7 touches down on Venus and becomes the first spacecraft to transmit data from another planet. Although data transmission after landing only lasted 23 minutes, possibly due to landing on its side from a parachute failure at 30 feet altitude, its temperature and pressure sensors confirmed that the planet's surface air pressure was ninety times that of Earth and the temperature was over 475 degrees Celsius (900 degree Fahrenheit).

1965 - Gemini 6 and Gemini 7 carried out the first rendezvous of two spacecraft in Earth orbit. The Gemini 6 astronauts were Walter Schirra and Thomas Stafford, and the astronauts of Gemini 7 were Frank Borman and James A. Lovell, Jr.

1911 - How's this for a particularly notable "first" in astronomy (considering what it took in 1911 to be able to make this observation): "It is quite interesting, to see the sun wander round the heavens at so to speak the same altitude day and night. I think we are the first to see this curious sight." Roald Amundsen, leader of the first group to reach the South Pole Dec. 15, 1911 (and possibly the first group to reach either Pole) (sledging diary, Dec. 16, 1911; quoted in Huntford, "Scott and Amundsen")

Lavochkin 3V (V-70)
Venera 7 Spacecraft

Gemini Spacecraft
at rendezvous

December 16

2000 - Using scientific data gathered by the Jupiter explorer spacecraft Galileo's on May 20th of Ganymede, JPL scientists announce evidence of an ice capped, salty ocean. Ganymede, the solar system's largest moon, now joins Callisto and Europa as moons of Jupiter that probably have seas of liquid water under ice. "We have now, after months and months of wrestling with the data, reached a point where we feel confident that there is a layer of water under Ganymede’s icy surface," said Margaret Kivelson, a University of California, Los Angeles planetary scientist and the principal investigator for Galileo’s magnetometer.

1965 - Pioneer 6 launched into solar orbit between Venus and Earth.

1857 - Edward Emerson (E.E.) Barnard's birthday, American observational astronomer with many discoveries.

Ganymede

December 17

1998 - The discovery of the acceleration of the universe by two teams of astronomers using the National Science Foundation's (NSF) National Optical Astronomy Observatories (NOAO) was named by the journal Science as the top scientific research advance of 1998. Working independently, the two groups have concluded that we live in a universe that will expand forever under the influence of an as yet unknown driving force. The expansion of the universe from the initial Big Bang has been known for decades. Gravitational attraction between galaxies should, however, slow the expansion and, if the universe contains sufficient matter, eventually stop or even reverse the expansion. The findings of these two research groups indicate that the universe does not contain enough matter to stop the expansion and, more surprisingly, that the expansion is speeding up. Observations from the NSF's Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) proved to be the key to success for these investigators. Released by National Optical Astronomy Observatories - What's New, 4:00 PM EST, December 17, 1998 )

1984 - ALH84001 Discovered In Antarctica (Mars Meteorite)

1903 - At 10:35 a.m., Orville Wright makes the first heavier-than-air, machine powered flight in the world in a flight lasting only 12 seconds and covering just 120 feet.

Wright Flyer - 1903

December 18

2001 -NASA's adventurous Deep Space 1 mission, which successfully tested 12 high-risk, advanced space technologies and captured the best images ever taken of a comet, comes to an end. The continuing adventures of Deep Space One.

1958 - SCORE communications satellite launched aboard an Atlas rocket from Cape Canaveral . During it's 34 day lifetime a recorded Christmas greeting from President Eisenhower was broadcasted.

STS 103 Mission Patch

Albert A. Michelson
(1852 - 1931)

December 19

1999 - Discovery STS103 launched to perform the Third Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission. 7 days, 23 hours, 10 minutes, 47 seconds. Three EVA's were completed.

1852 - Albert Abraham Michelson's birthday. German-born American physicist who won the 1907 Nobel Prize in physics for developing extremely precise instruments and conducting important investigations with them, becoming the first American citizen to earn a Nobel Prize.

"With untiring eagerness and, it can truly be said, with brilliant results, work is forging ahead today in every field of research in the natural sciences, and new information of ever greater significance is accumulating every day in unprecedented profusion. This is especially true in the case of the exact sciences - astronomy and physics - in which fields we are now obtaining solutions to problems, the mere mention of which up till a short while ago had to be regarded as unreal as Utopia itself. The reason for this gratifying development may be found in improvements in the methods and means of making observations and experiments, and also in the increase in accuracy brought about by these improvements in the quantitative examination of observed phenomena." --Nobel Presentation Speech

December 20

1996 - Death of Carl Sagan in Seattle, WA. Our pale blue dot will miss him forever.

1904 - Founding of the Mt. Wilson Solar Observatory.

1876 - Walter S. Adams' birthday, Mt. Wilson astronomer who uncovered the nature of Sirius B, the first known white dwarf star (which was first seen by the famed Alvan Clark in 1862).

Carl Sagan,
the world's most famous
and loved astronomer

Apollo 8
Mission Patch

December 21

1999 - Hughes Space and Communications Company's (HSC) HS 702 satellites, Galaxy XI is launched, it is the world's largest commercial communications satellite with 64 transponders and more than 10 kilowatts of power at end of life.

1984 - Vega 2 Launch (Soviet Comet Halley/Venus Mission)

1968 - Apollo 8 launch. William A. Anders, James A. Lovell, Jr., and Frank Borman became the first men to leave Earth's gravity aboard Apollo 8. This mission provided the first close-up view of the lunar surface and of the Moon's backside. Mission duration: 6 Days, 3 hours, 0 min, 42 seconds

Earth from Apollo 8

December 24

1979 - 1st Ariane Launch

1968 - The US's Apollo 8 is the first manned spacecraft to orbit the moon.

1910 - William Hayward Pickering's birthday. He performed early investigations into new electronic telemetering techniques, which have become the basis for all that was to follow in the transmission of data from space. Director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory from 1954 to 1976 and was director of JPL during the successful Voyager missions. He developed new technologies for digital communications and high definition television. He won the 1994 Japan Prize for Science and Technology.

Johannes Kepler
(1571 - 1630)

December 27

1571 - Johannes Kepler's Birthday. Danish protégé of Tycho Brahe. In 1609 Kepler demonstrates in Astronomia Nova that the orbits of planets are elliptical.
The Sleepwalkers describes the political and social environments within which early scientists worked. Also is the account is the account of Kepler's mother being accused, tortured, and tried for witchcraft. He defended her over a few years at the time he was writing Harmony of the World. She lay in chains, 'with two full time guards-whose salary had to be paid by the defense' at seventy three years of age......."In Kepler's idyllic birthplace, with a population of two hundred families, thirty eight witches were burnt between 1615 and 1629. In Kepler's mother's equally small town/village, six witches were burnt in the winter of 1615 alone. Challenging times for scientists :-(-- Regards John - in Wales where we only have to watch out for our dragons) (AstroList)

December 28

1929 - Maarten Schmidt's Birthday. 1992 Bruce Medallist. In 1963 he discovered the first quasar.

1882 - Arthur Eddington's Birthday, British theoretical astrophysicist who was instrumental in showing why stars are the way they are. He also gave the name "expanding universe" to the mutual recession of the galaxies.

Arthur Eddington
(1882 - 1944)

December 30

2000 - Cassini's Jupiter Millennial Flyby Cassini flys to 9,721,846 kilometers from Jupiter's cloud tops as it gets a gravitational assist for the last leg of its journey to Saturn (2004). Circumstances puts both the Cassini and Galileo missions at Jupiter for close-up science work at the same time. Cassini takes pictures and sounds of Jupiter, it also measures Jovian Type III bursts

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