2005 – The dwarf planet Makemake is discovered by a team led by astronomer Michael E. Brown at the Palomar Observatory.
1970 – Explorer 1, re-enters the Earth’s atmosphere after 12 years in space. Launched on February 1, 1958, it was the first satellite launched by the United States and was part of the U.S. participation in the International Geophysical Year (IGY)
1966 – The Soviet Union launches Luna 10 which later became the first space probe to enter orbit around the Moon. It completed 460 lunar orbits before the radio transmissions were turned off.
Birthdays
1957 – Patrick Graham Forrester American astronaut 1996-2011 Group 16. 39.6 days in space. 4 EVAs, 25h 22m. Flew to orbit on STS-105 (2001), STS-117 (2007), STS-128 (2009). He served as Chief of the Astronaut Office from 2017 – 2020.
