2010 – After 2208 Martian days, the last communication from
Mars Rover Spirit was relayed. The rover never woke up from the Mars winter and the mission end was announced on May 25, 2011.
1997 – The Comet Hale-Bopp has its closest approach to Earth.
1996 – STS-76 Atlantis launches. Its mission is the third docking with Space Station Mir when Shannon Lucid, USA, is transferred to Mir and becomes the first woman ever to crew a Space Station.
1995 – Cosmonaut Valeriy Polyakov returns to Earth after setting a new space endurance record of 438 days aboard Space Station Mir.
1981 – Soyuz 39 launches to Salyut 6. Vladimir Dzhanibekov and Jügderdemidiin Gürragchaa. With this mission, Gürragchaa became the first Mongolian, and second Asian cosmonaut. Mission time: 7 days, 20 hours, 42 minutes, 3 seconds.
1982 –STS-3 Launched. Jack R. Lousma, Commander; C. Gordon Fullerton, Pilot. Testing continued of Shuttle systems for qualification for operational flights. Testing of remote manipulator system. Problems encountered: space sickness, malfunctioning toilet, thermostat difficulty and unexplained static interfering with crew sleep. Auxiliary power unit registered overheating during ascent, but functioned properly during descent. Three communications links lost.
1963 – The National Space Club and Foundation awards John Glenn, pilot, the Robert H. Goddard trophy for his part in America’s first orbital manned space flight.
Birthdays
1951 – Musa Manarov Lakets-Russian engineer cosmonaut Time in space: 541 days. Soyuz TM-4 Soyuz TM-10
1799 – Friedrich Wilhelm August Argelander, compiler of star catalogues who studied variable stars and created the first international astronomical organization.