Chronology of
Space Exploration

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This document is an attempt to bring various published sources together to present a timeline about Space Exploration. This is a VERY early, quick timeline of the events involving outer space. The main source is a "today in history" that I have had since the 1980s, with updates through the 1990s. Depending on interest, I will be doing some proper research and adding detail.

References are numbered in [brackets], which are listed here. A number after the dot gives the page in the source.

Last updated: 2009 October 30.

June 4, 780 BCE First total solar eclipse reliably recorded by Chinese. [1] June 15, 763 BCE Assyrians record total solar eclipse event on clay tablet. [1] March 19, 721 BCE First recorded lunar eclipse, seen in Babylon. [1] April 22, 687 BCE Chinese record a meteor shower in Lyra. [1] April 6, 648 BCE Earliest total solar eclipse; chronicled by Greeks. [1] May 28, 585 BCE Thales Miletus predicts solar eclipse; Persian-Lydian battle ends. [1] March 30, 239 BCE First recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. [1] May 22, 12 BCE A daytime meteor shower, possibly Zeta Perseid observed in China. [1] 66 January 26 Fifth recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. [1] 141 March 20 Sixth predicted perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. [1] 185 December 7 Emperor Lo-Yang, China sees supernova (MSH15-52?). [1] 218 May 17 Seventh recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. [1] 295 April 20 Eighth recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. [1] 374 February 16 Ninth recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. [1] April 1 Halley's Comet approaches within 0.0884 astronomical units (AUs) of Earth. [1] 451 June 24 Tenth recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. [1] 512 June 29 A monastic chronicler in Ireland records a solar eclipse. [5] 585 April 28 War between Lydia and Media ended by solar eclipse. [1] 607 March 13 Twelfth recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. [1] April 19 Comet 1P/607 H1 (Halley) approaches within 0.0898 astronomical units (AUs) of Earth. [1] 760 May 22 Fourteenth recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. [1] 837 February 27 Fifteenth recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. [1] April 10 Comet 1P/837 F1 (Halley) approaches within 0.0334 astronomical units (AUs) of Earth, the closest in 2000 years. [1] 1006 April 30 Brightest supernova in recorded history is observed. [1] May 1 Supernova observed by Chinese and Egyptians in constellation Lupus. [1] 1054 July 4 The Chinese, the Arabs and possibly Amerindians observe a bright supernova, the remnants of which form the Crab Nebula. [1] [5] 1056 April 22 Supernova Crab nebula last seen by the naked eye. [1] 1066 March 23 18th recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. [1] 1145 April 22 19th recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. [1] 1178 June 18 Proposed time of origin of lunar crater Giordano Bruno. [1] June 25 Five Canterbury monks report something exploding on Moon. [1] 1181 August 4 Supernova seen in Cassiopia. [1] August 6 Supernova observed by Chinese and Japanese astronomers. [1] 1264 October 3 Comet said to predict the death of Pope Urban IV is last seen. [1] 1275 March 4 Chinese astronomers observe a total eclipse of the sun. [5] 1345 March 20 Saturn/Jupiter/Mars-conjunction; thought "cause of plague epidemic". [1] 1456 June 9 23rd recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. [1] 1497 March 9 Nicolaus Copernicus first recorded astronomical observation. [1] 1504 February 29 Columbus uses a lunar eclipse to frighten hostile Jamaican Indians. [1] 1514 April 26 Copernicus makes his first observations of Saturn. [1] 1572 November 6 Supernova is observed in the constellation known as Cassiopeia. [1] 1576 May 23 Tycho Brahe given Hveen Island to build Uraniborg Observatory. [1] 1579 August 8 Cornerstone is laid for Tycho Brahe's Uraniborg observatory. [1] 1604 October 9 Supernova 1604 - the most recent supernova to be observed in the Milky Way - is seen for the first time. [5] (October 8 [1]) 1610 January 1 German astronomer Simon Marius first discovers the Jupiter moons, but does not officially report it, Galileo does on July 1 1610. [1] January 7 Galileo discovers first three Jupiter satellites, Io, Europa and Ganymede. [1] January 13 Galileo Galilei discovers Callisto, fourth satellite of Jupiter. [1] 1612 December 15 Simon Marius, is first to observe Andromeda galaxy through a telescope. [1] December 28 Galileo Galilei becomes the first astronomer to observe the planet Neptune, although he mistakenly catalogues it as a fixed star. [5] (January 29, 1613 [1]) 1625 June 8 Birth of Giovanni Domenico Cassini discovered four satellites of Saturn. [1] 1630 May 17 Italian Jesuit Niccolo Zucchi, first to see two belts on Jupiter surface. [1] 1631 November 7 Pierre Gassendi observes transit of Mercury predicted by Kepler. [1] December 6 First predicted transit of Venus (Kepler) is observed. [1] 1633 February 13 Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei arrives in Rome for trial before Inquisition for professing belief that earth revolves around the Sun. [1] [5] [129] 1638 June 25 A lunar eclipse becomes the first astronomical event recorded in US. [1] 1639 December 4 Jeremiah Horrocks makes the first observation of a transit of Venus. [5] (November 24 [1]) 1642 August 13 Christiaan Huygens discovers Martian south polar cap. [1] 1655 March 25 Christiaan Huygens discovers Titan, Saturn's largest moon. [1] [5] 1661 May 3 Johannes Hevelius observes third transit of Mercury ever to be seen. [1] 1662 September 16 Flamsteed sees solar eclipse, first known astronomical observation. [1] 1671 October 25 Giovanni Cassini discovers Iapetus, satellite of Saturn. [1] 1672 December 23 Giovanni Cassini discovers Rhea, a satellite of Saturn. [1] 1675 June 22 Royal Greenwich Observatory established in England by Charles II. [1] 1678 February 13 Tycho Brahe first sketches "Tychonic system" of solar system. [1] 1679 November 3 Great panic occurs in Europe over the close approach of a comet. [1] 1682 May 1 Louis XIV and his court inaugurate Paris Observatory. [1] 1686 August 18 Cassini reports seeing a satellite orbiting Venus. [1] 1690 December 23 John Flamsteed observes Uranus without realizing it is undiscovered. [1] 1702 April 20 Comet C/1702 H1 approaches within 0.0437 astronomical units (AUs) of Earth. [1] 1715 April 29 John Flamsteed observes Uranus for 6th time. [1] May 3 Edmund Halley observes total eclipse phenomenon "Baily's Beads". [1] 1743 February 8 Comet C/1743 C1 approaches within 0.0390 astronomical units (AUs) of Earth. [1] 1753 May 6 French King Louis XV observes transit of Mercury at Mendon Castle. [1] 1758 December 25 Halley's comet first sighted by Johann Georg Palitzsch during return. [1] 1759 March 13 27th recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. [1] 1760 January 8 Comet C/1760 A1 (Great comet) approaches within 0.0682 astronomical units (AUs) of Earth. [1] 1774 January 11 Messier adds M51 (spiral galaxy in Canes Venatici) to his catalog. [1] March 4 William Herschel becomes the first to sight the Orion Nebula. [1] [5] 1778 June 24 David Rittenhouse observes a total solar eclipse in Philadelphia. [1] 1781 March 13 Sir William Herschel sees "comet" (really discovered Uranus). [1] 1783 May 4 Herschel reports seeing a red glow near lunar crater Aristarchus. [1] 1787 January 11 William Herschel discovers Titania and Oberon, two moons of Uranus. [1] [5] August 19 W Herschel discovers Enceladus, a moon of Saturn. [1] 1789 August 28 Sir William Herschel discovers Saturn's moon Enceladus. [1] [5] September 17 William Herschel discovers Mimas, satellite of Saturn. [1] 1791 February 17 Messier catalogs M83 (spiral galaxy in Hydra). [1] 1799 June 18 Birth of William Lassell discoverer (satellites of Uranus and Neptune). [1] 1802 March 28 Heinrich Wilhelm Matthäus Olbers discovers 2 Pallas, the second asteroid known to man. [5] 1803 April 26 Meteorites fall in L'Aigle, France. [1] 1805 December 9 Comet 3D/1805 V1 (Biela) approaches within 0.0366 astronomical units (AUs) of Earth. [1] 1819 July 4 William Herschel makes last telescopic observation of 1819 comet. [1] 1825 December 6 President John Adams suggests establishment of a US observatory. [1] 1826 February 28 M Biela, an Austrian officer, discovers Biela's Comet. [1] 1829 October 15 Birth of Asaph Hall discovered satellites of Mars, Phobos and Deimos. [1] 1836 May 15 Francis Baily observes "Baily's Beads" during annular solar eclipse. [1] 1838 June 12 Hopkins Observatory, dedicated in Williamstown, Massachusetts [1] 1839 January 2 First photo of the Moon (French photographer Louis Daguerre). [1] December 18 First celestial photograph (the moon) made in US, John Draper, New York City, New York. [1] 1840 March 23 Draper takes first successful photo of the Moon (daguerrotype). [1] 1842 August 31 US Naval Observatory authorized by an act of Congress. [1] 1846 September 23 Johann Gottfried Galle and Heinrich d'Arrest find Neptune. [1] October 10 Neptune's moon Triton discovered by William Lassell. [1] 1847 July 1 Amateur astronomer M Hencke discovers second asteroid Hebe. [1] K L Hencke discovers asteroid #6 Hebe. [1] July 10 Urbain J.J. Leverrier and John Couch Adams, codiscoverers of Neptune. [1] October 1 Maria Mitchell discovers a non-naked-eye comet. [1] 1848 September 19 Bond (US) and Lassell (England) independently discover Hyperion, moon of Saturn. [1] 1849 December 18 William Bond obtains first photograph of Moon through a telescope. [1] 1850 July 17 Harvard Observatory takes first photograph of a star (Vega). [1] 1851 July 28 Total solar eclipse captured on a daguerreotype photograph. [1] July 29 A De Gasparis discovers asteroid #15 Eunomia. [1] October 24 William Lassell discovers Ariel and Umbriel, satellites of Uranus. [1] 1852 June 24 J R Hind discovers asteroid #18 Melpomene. [1] 1853 April 29 Comet C/1853 G1 (Schweizer) approaches within 0.0839 astronomical units (AUs) of Earth. [1] 1854 June 10 Georg F.B. Reiman proposes that space is curved. [1] July 22 J R Hind discovers asteroid #30 Urania. [1] 1857 March 25 Frederick Laggenheim takes first photo of a solar eclipse. [1] June 27 H Goldschmidt discovers asteroid #45 Eugenia. [1] December 16 Birth of Edward Emerson Barnard Tennesee, astronomer (Jupiter's 5th satellite). [1] 1858 June 2 Donati Comet first seen named after its discoverer. [1] September 28 Donati's comet becomes the first to be photographed. [1] 1859 March 26 First sighting of Vulcan, a planet thought to orbit inside Mercury. [1] September 1 RC Carrington and R Hodgson make first observation of solar flare. [1] 1861 June 28 Leipzig Observatory discovers short-period (6.2 years) Comet d'Arrest. [1] 1862 January 31 Telescope maker Alvin Clark discovers dwarf companion of Sirius. [1] 1864 August 5 Spectrum of a comet observed for first time, by Giovanni Donati. [1] 1866 June 15 C H F Peters discovers asteroid #88 Thisbe. [1] 1867 July 7 C H F Peters discovers asteroid #92 Undina. [1] 1868 July 11 J C Watson discovers asteroid #100 Hekate. [1] August 18 Pierre Janssan discovers helium in solar spectrum during eclipse. [1] 1869 May 1 A colt is reported killed by a meteorite near New Concord Ohio. [1] 1870 December 22 Jules Janssen flies in a balloon in order to study a solar eclipse. [1] 1871 July 23 C H F Peters discovers asteroid #114 Kassandra. [1] December 12 Jules Janssen discovers dark lines in solar corona spectrum. [1] 1872 July 31 C H F Peters discovers asteroids #122 Gerda and #123 Brunhild. [1] 1873 June 13 J C Watson discovers asteroid #132 Aethra. [1] 1875 June 3 C H F Peters discovers asteroid #144 Vibilia and #145 Adeona. [1] June 8 A Borrelly discovers asteroid #146 Lucina. [1] July 10 L Schulhof discovers asteroid #147 Protogeneia. [1] 1876 July 12 Paul Henry discovers asteroid #164 Eva. [1] 1877 August 12 Asaph Hall discovers Deimos, the smaller of Mars' two moons. [1] [5] August 17 Asaph Hall discovers Mars' moon Phobos. [1] 1878 June 18 C H F Peters discovers asteroid #188 Menippe. [1] 1879 May 10 Meteor falls near Estherville IA. [1] June 13 A Borrelly discovers asteroid #198 Ampella. [1] July 9 C H F Peters discovers asteroid #199 Byblis. [1] July 27 C H F Peters discovers asteroid #200 Dynamene. [1] 1882 July 4 Telegraph Hill Observatory opens in San Francisco. [1] July 19 J Palisa discovers asteroid #226 Weringia. [1] December 6 Atmosphere of Venus detected during transit. [1] 1884 June 27 J Palisa discovers asteroid #237 Coelestina. [1] July 1 V Knorre discovers asteroid #238 Hypatia. [1] 1885 June 5 J Palisa discovers asteroid #248 Lameia. [1] August 30 13,000 meteors seen in one hour near Andromeda. [1] November 27 Earliest photograph of a meteor shower made. [1] 1886 June 28 C H F Peters discovers asteroid #259 Aletheia. [1] 1887 June 8 A Borrelly discovers asteroid #268 Adorea. [1] 1890 July 15 A Charlois discovers asteroid #294 Felicia. [1] 1891 June 11 A Charlois discovers asteroid #311 Claudia. [1] 1892 September 9 Almalthea, 5th moon of Jupiter, discovered by EE Barnard at Lick. [1] 1893 July 4 A Borrelly discovers asteroid #369 Aeria. [1] July 14 A Charlois discovers asteroid #370 Modestia. [1] July 16 A Charlois discovers asteroid #371 Bohemia. [1] 1894 February 14 Venus is both a morning star and evening star. [1] 1895 June 20 A Charlois discovers asteroid #404 Arsinoe. [1] July 23 A Charlois discovers asteroid #405 Thia. [1] 1897 May 21 Yerkes Observatory 40" (1 metre) refractor used for first time. [1] October 21 Yerkes Observatory of the University of Chicago is dedicated. [1] 1898 July 16 A Charlois discovers asteroid #437 Rhodia. [1] 1899 March 18 Phoebe, a moon of Saturn is discovered by Pickering. [1]

End of Start to 1899. Next: 1900. The complete timeline can be purchased in a PDF file for US$10 from the author. You can pay now directly via PayPal. When I receive notification from PayPal, I will email you the PDF file. or send me an email to request my mailing address to mail payment. start-1899 1900-1949 1950-1964 1965-1969 1970-1974 1975-1979 1980-1984 1985-1989 1990-1994 1995-1999 2000-end A list of references to all source material is available. Other web pages of interest: Chronology of World History This Day in History

Last updated: 2009 October 30. Copyright © 2007-2009 Ken Polsson (email: kpolsson@islandnet.com). URL: http://www.islandnet.com/~kpolsson/space/ Link to Ken P's home page.