AS

The Pioneer 11 reaches the first Sagittarius star

Pioneer 10 reaches Aldebaran in Toro

Voyager 2 passes 4.3 light years from Sirius

Voyager 1 comes within 1.6 light years of the star AC + 79 38888 of Camelopardis and is captured by its gravity (it is currently in the direction of the constellation Ofphiuco, or the direction of the Solar Apex: the direction in which the Sun

Early on Christmas morning, NASA’s groundbreaking new space observatory, the James Webb Space Telescope, successfully launched into space after taking off atop a European Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana. The launch marks the beginning of one of the most anticipated NASA missions in decades, a

NASA reports that the American Parker probe has come to “touch” the Sun, or rather, it temporarily dives (at perihelion) inside (the upper part) of the solar atmosphere (ie the solar corona), it samples particles, and measures their magnetic field for the first time. In reality,

Vanderberg, California. Launch of the DART mission, with a Space X Falcon 9, to reach the asteroids Didymos and Dimorphos and hit one (the little Dimorphos) to study the technology to deflect the trajectory of NEO (Near Earth Objects) potentially dangerous for the Earth.

Cape Canaveral, Florida. Launch with an Atlas V 401 of the Lucy mission, of NASA, the first towards the Trojan asteroids, in the Lagrangian points L4 and L5 of the orbit of Jupiter.

William Shatner (Captain Kirk in Star Trek), 90, is launched into space as an astro-tourist, along with Blue Origin’s VP of Flight Operations Audrey Powers and entrepreneurs Chris Boshuizen and Glen de Vries. Blue Origin’s New Shpeard capsule by Jeff Bezos describes a short parabola crossing,

Cape Canaveral, Florida. A billionaire e-commerce executive and three much less wealthy private citizens chosen to join him, were slinged from Space-X at a height of 585km (far higher than the ISS and in fact it is the farthest distance that a human being has ever

Van Horn, Texas. Jeff Bezos (of Amazon and Blue Origin) and his brother Mark, along with Wally Funk (formerly Mercury 13 unofficial candidate for space travel in the 1960s) and Dutchman Oliver Daemen, reach space for 4 minutes, in a flight suborbital with the reusable New

New Mexico, USA. Virgin’s Richard Branson makes his first flight into space, a suborbital flight at 82 km altitude, on the horizontal take-off vehicle called Unity. The occupants of the aircraft are a total of 6.

The Chinese Tianwen-1 mission manages to land the Zhurong rover on Mars. China thus becomes the second nation in the world, after the United States (first with the Viking 1 and 2 in 1976), to be able to make a controlled landing on the red planet,

NASA’s Osiris Rex spacecraft departs from orbit around the asteroid Bennu, with its precious and massive load of asteroid material, to begin the long two-year journey to Earth.

Boca Chica, Texas. Space X’s Starship SN15 completes takeoff, flight, belly flop, approach and landing for the first time. The previous 4 attempts had gone more or less well in the early stages, but crashed upon landing.

The American Parker probe comes to “touch” the Sun, or rather, temporarily dives (at perihelion) into (the upper part) of the solar atmosphere (ie the solar corona), samples particles, and measures their magnetic field for the first time. In reality, the communication of the change will

Michael Collins dies. He was born in Rome, as his father was currently employed in the military at the US embassy in Italy. Having passed through the famous West Point Military Academy, he had landed in the Air Force where he had become a test pilot. In 1963

Cape Canaveral. Third launch for the Space X Crew Dragon, towards the ISS space station. The astronauts are NASA’s Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, ESA’s Thomas Pesquet, and JAXA’s Akihiko Hoshide.

Jezero Crater, Mars. NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter makes its first automatic flight. This is a first in the history of space flight. And it opens up scenarios that were previously unthinkable for the exploration of worlds with atmosphere. The sky is NOT the limit. The atmospheric density on Mars is only

NASA’s Perseverance mission makes its entry into the Martian atmosphere, the so-called 7 minutes of terror. Everything goes according to plan, and the big rover rests gently on the ground, with the Ingenuity drone helicopter aboard. A photo of the rover is also taken while, supported by

The Tianwen-1 mission, with the rover on board, enters orbit around Mars.

The Amal (Hope – Hope) probe of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) enters the Martian orbit.

Richard Branson’s Virgin launches a satellite into orbit from a high-flying plane.

Boca Chica, southern tip of Texas. A prototype of Elon Musk’s Space X StarShip takes off, performs attitude control operations at 12 km altitude, glides with a lifting body profile, tries to land in the correct spot, but at the last moment two of the three

The reentry probe of the Japanese mission Hayabusa-2 successfully lands in Australia and its precious Ryugu meteoritic soil content is brought to Japan for analysis.

Ocean of Storms, Luna. The Chinese Chang’e 5 probe lands successfully, takes a sample of a couple of kg of lunar soil, restarts and automatically joins with the mother probe in orbit.

Space-X successfully launches the Dragon probe with 4 NASA astronauts, which docks at the ISS space station. This is the first NASA astronaut launch on Dragon

The American Osiris-Rex probe touches the asteroid Bennu, takes a sample, and immediately restarts, as expected. It was launched in 2016.

The Space X Crew Dragon capsule carrying the two American astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken successfully returns to the atmosphere and ditches in the Gulf of Mexico, returning from the ISS space station. This is the first return with an American capsule from the Space

Cape Canaveral, Florida. An Atlas V 541 vector launches NASA’s Perseverance rover to Mars.

Wenchang Launch Site, China. A Long March vector 5 launches the Tianwen-1 rover (天 问) towards Mars. This time, in the 2020 Mars race, the other contenders are the United Arab Emirates and the United States in this time window that opens every two years. It will enter

Tanegashima Space Center, Japan. Launch of the Amal (Hope – Hope) spacecraft, of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), launched by a Mitsubishi H-IIA carrier. It will arrive in Martian orbit on February 9, 2021.

Space X makes history by becoming the first private company to launch astronauts into space. It is also the first launch of American astronauts from American soil since 2011. The launch is carried out with the Falcon-9 and the Crew Dragon shuttle, which the next day

Kazakhstan. The Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano returns to Earth after 210 days on the ISS, as commander of Expedition 61 (first Italian and third European), and after having participated in several EVAs for the repair of the AMS02 anti-matter observatory.

Pad 39A in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The Falcon 9 (a specimen that had already flown 3 more times) leaves the ramp and, 90s after launch, switches off the engines deliberately, the Dragon capsule detaches and saves the virtual crew by ditching, and the first stage of

After half a century, some lunar soil samples taken in December 1972 by the Apollo 17 astronauts are open. They were left sealed at the time, awaiting future times when the analysis techniques would be more advanced.

India launches Chandrayaan-2 towards the Moon, the day after the 50th of the first steps on the Moon. The carrier rocket is the Mark III (GSLV M III).

Luca Parmitano returns to the ISS space station for Expedition 60. It is the 50th anniversary of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin’s moon landing.

Hayabusa-2 successfully lands on asteroid Ryugu for the second time, to take a second sample, this time in zone C01, where it created a 10m diameter crater on April 5th.

The gigantic air transport system to space Stratolaunch, makes its first test flight.

Space X launches Falcon Heavy, which successfully puts ArabSat into orbit. All three boosters land without problems (two at the same time on the ground a few tens of meters away, and one offshore in the ocean, on the platform “Of course I still love you”,

The Israeli Beresheet probe fails to land softly on the moon, and crashes due to too high a speed.

The Hayabusa-2 fires a second explosive projectile, from a distance this time and of copper, at the asteroid Ryugu, causing a crater about a dozen meters in diameter.

A major malfunction of the new Boeing 737 MAX attitude control SW MAX8 causes a plane to crash in Ethiopia, killing everyone on board, as well as other accidents. Government agencies in Europe, the United States, Canada and other countries, within a few days, order all

Richard Branson’s British Virgin Galactic sends the first paying passenger into space on a suborbital flight. It is the second flight in two months for the Unity reusable spacecraft. The cost of the ticket is 250,000 USD.

Cambridge, UK. Tony Foulds, 83, is present at the passage in formation of several USAF planes, along with thousands of people. We remember the event of 75 years earlier, when Tony, an 8-year-old boy, was there in that meadow, and a B-17 (flying fortress) was returning from

02:45 am on February 22 in Italy, 08:45 pm on February 21 in Florida. Space X’s Falcon-9 vector launches an Indonesian satellite, a USAF experimental satellite and the Israeli Beresheet private spacecraft, which launches towards the Moon in concentric orbits. After the launch, as usual, the carrier

23:58 on February 21 in Italy, 07:58 on February 22 in Japan. The Japanese probe Hayabusa-2 successfully lands on asteroid Ryugu, fires a small Tantalum projectile, takes samples of surface material, and takes off to position itself in a high orbit. The operation is shown live on

The Chinese probe Chang’e 4 lands in the von Karman crater, on the far side of the moon.

The American probe New Horizons successfully flies by the Ultima Thule object, and starts transmitting the photos. It is 6 light hours away.

The SpaceShipTwo, VSS Unity, of Virgin Galactic, flies over the Mojave Air and Space Port, reaching a height of 82.7 km, before landing again at the base. The pilots are Mark Stucky and CJ Sturckow.

Mars. The American probe Mars Insight lands on Martian soil, in the Elysium Planitia area.

The American probe Osiris REX arrives in orbit around the asteroid Bennu. Osiris stands for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer, and Osiris is also a deity linked to life, fertility, death and resurrection. Bennu is a bird symbol of birth and resurrection. The probe is

The Kepler Space Telescope has reached the end of its life and the further extension of the mission. It has found over 2600 confirmed planets outside the Solar System.

The Soyuz Expedition-57 mission with astronaut Nick Hague and cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin on board must abort the insertion into orbit, a few minutes after launch, due to a problem during the release of the side boosters. The crew returns to the ground safely, but the space

The Japanese probe Hayabusa-2 successfully lands the first two rovers on the asteroid Ryugu

The American exoplanet-hunting space telescope, TESS, is launched from a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The vector is recovered.

The Chinese space station Tiangong 1 (Heavenly Palace) re-enters and disintegrates into the atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean. It was launched on 29 September 2011. It has a mass of 8 tons (as a comparison to the return the American Skylab in July 1979 weighed 95ton,

Elon Musk’s Space X launches the Falcon Heavy for the first time, carrying a Tesla Roadster sports car and a Space X spacesuit dummy, into an orbit beyond Mars to the dwarf planet Ceres. The images from space with the Roadster and Earth in the background

John Young, astronaut on Apollo 10, Apollo 16 (walking on the Moon with Charlie Duke), Gemini 3 and 10 and STS-1 (first to fly the Space Shuttle) and STS-9 dies

China, for the first time, launches more rockets (no more satellites …) than any other nation.

Paolo Nespoli returns to Earth on Soyuz, after 139 days on the ISS Space Station. At 60 and on his third mission to the ISS, he is a record for Italy.

Sierra Nevada Corp.’s return shuttle Dream Chaser makes a first flight without any problems (the previous flight had a problem with the trolley). It is released from a Chinook helicopter from more than 12km of altitude.

The Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli leaves, with the Soyuz, on the R-7 vector, for the ISS space station. This is his second time, after 17 years, and now at the age of 60.

Space X’s Dragon probe, after delivering its payload to the ISS space station, returns to Earth and is recovered, as is the rocket. This is the first time the Dragon has been used again. It is in fact a shuttle that was already used years before.

USAF’s X-37B military space shuttle returns to Earth after 718 days in orbit. This is the fourth X-37B mission.

The Cassini probe crosses the plane of Saturn’s rings for the first time, from the inner side of the same. Pass unscathed and send unedited photos. It is hit by very few and tiny micro meteorites, contrary to the initial fears that caused the main antenna to

The European Martian probe Gas Trace Orbiter, with Italian instruments to study methane emissions, fits correctly into the Martian orbit and releases the European probe Schiaparelli, with 34% of Italian technological contribution, attempts to land on Mars. The entry into the atmosphere works, as does the

The European probe Rosetta crashes into comet 67P / Churyumov-Gerasimenko, in a controlled and relatively slow manner. This allows him to take photos of the soil and spectral readings right up to the last minute.

China sends its second orbiting station into orbit: Tiangong-2.

NASA’s Osiris-Rex probe is launched towards the asteroid Bennu. Osiris stands for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer, and Osiris is also a deity linked to life, fertility, death and resurrection. Bennu is a bird symbol of birth and resurrection. The probe is from Lockheed Martin,

Space X’s Falcon 9 rocket explodes to the ground during a test procedure. The Facebook satellite is destroyed.

The American Juno probe enters orbit around Jupiter. We will then find a problem that will not allow him to circularize the orbit, but most of the scientific objectives will still be achieved, including stunning indeite photos of the poles of the king of the planets.

Space X by Elon Musk successfully launches a Japanese satellite, then the Falcon 9 rocket turns and lands on the drone ship “Of course I still love you” in the middle of the Atlantic, all in the complete darkness of the night. Another success for Elon

Russia. Vostochny Space Base (formerly Svobodny). It was decided in 1994 by Boris Yeltsin, to replace Baikonur, now in Kazakhstan. The first launch from the new ramp takes place on April 28, 2016. From other ramps they took place from 1997 onwards.

Elon Musk’s Space X successfully launches the Dragon shuttle towards the ISS Space Station, then the Falcon 9 rocket turns and returns to the drone ship “Of course I still love you” (name taken from a GCU-class battleship of a novel by Iain M. Banks). And

Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin (of Amazon) completes its third suborbital flight with the same reusable rocket, launches the parachuting capsule, and the New Shepard rocket returns landing vertically in West Texas on its predestined platform. Jeff Bezos wears his cowboy boots with the inscription Gradatum Ferociter

Cape Canaveral, Florida. Elon Musk’s Space X Falcon 9 rocket launches 9 satellites into orbit and then maneuvers and returns to Cape Canaveral making a vertical landing. This is an important milestone for space travel, making a traditional launch vector completely reusable, with Vertical Take Off and

Akatsuki, a Japanese mission to Venus was launched in 2010. At the key moment of its entry into the Venusian orbit it goes into safe-mode, and loses the opportunity. But the Japanese team did not lose heart: they studied a rescue plan and on December 7,

Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origins launches and retrieves the New Shepard rocket. The rocket reaches 100Km in height, releases the capsule, and then re-enters and lands vertically in a controlled manner.