2008 – CNSA astronaut Zhai Zhigang becomes the first Chinese person to perform a spacewalk while flying on
Shenzhou 7.
2007 – After many status changes, cancellations, and reinstatements, the Dawn spacecraft was finally launched at 11:34 GMT. Dawn is an unmanned probe designed to orbit and survey the asteroid Vesta, then fly on to Ceres, the largest asteroid. Using its ion engines and a Mars flyby in February 2009, Dawn is scheduled to reach Vesta in 2011 and Ceres in 2015.
2003 – Smart 1 satellite is launched by the European Space Agency and designed to orbit the Moon. On September 3, 2006 it was deliberately crashed into the Moon.
1997 – The final contact with the Mars Pathfinder
was at 10:23 UTC. Although the mission planners tried to restore contact during the following five months, the mission was formally terminated on March 10, 1998.