2012– Grail (Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory) returns first mission video from the Moon’s farside.
2003 – 10:28 AM EST: Shortly before concluding it’s 28th mission, around 9:00am EST STS-107 Space Shuttle Columbia broke up as it reentered Earth’s atmosphere passing over Texas at an altitude of 200,000 feet, travelling around 12,500 mph (Mach 6). The cause of the disaster was damage sustained to the left wing when foam insulation broke off from the external fuel tank at launch.
The crew of STS-107: L to R: David Brown, Rick Husband, Laurel Clark Kalpana Chawla, Michael P Anderson, William McCool, Ilan Ramon – Remembering Columbia
1999 – Galileo Spacecraft flyby Europa number 19
1958 – Explorer I, U.S. first artificial satellite was launched at 10:48 P.M. from Cape Canaveral. It transmitted data on micrometeorites and cosmic radiation for 105 days. This science mission resulted in the discovery of the Van Allen radiation belts.
Birthdays
1961 – Daniel M. Tani, American engineer and astronaut