2002 – The Mars Odyssey, orbiter, finds signs of large ice deposits on the planet Mars.
1998 – Asteroid 1998 KY26 was discovered by Tom Gehrels. Using radar observation this asteroid’s rotation speed was calculated as 10.7 minutes! The fastest rotating object in the solar system yet known. Also, because of its orbit, it is one of the most easily accessible asteroids in terms of sending spacecraft to explore it.
1971 – Mars 3 (USSR) launched. On December 2, 1971 the lander arrived at Mars but was only able to return 20 seconds of data.
1959 – Launch Of Two Monkeys Able & Baker. Humans didn’t know that humans could survive in
space, even in a protected environment. The two monkeys, Able, a 3.18 kilogram (7-pound) rhesus monkey, and Baker, a 311.9 gram (11-ounce) squirrel monkey spent 16 minutes traveling to an altitude of 360 miles. Able died a few days later due to complications of a surgery to remove the implanted electronics. Baker lived until the age of 27. Their adventure paved the way to send humans to space.
Birthdays
1912 – Ruby Violet Payne-Scott, born in Grafton, New South Wales, Australia. BSc(Phys) MSc DipEd(Syd) was an Australian pioneer in radio physics and radio astronomy, and was the first female radio astronomer.