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

Last updated: 2008 June 28.

start-1899	1900-1949	1950-1964	1965-1969	1970-1974	1975-1979	1980-1984	1985-1989	1990-1994	1995-1999
2000-end

1995 January 2 Most distant galaxy yet discovered found by scientists using Keck telescope in Hawaii (estimated 15 billion light years away). [1] January 9 Valeri Polyakov completes 366 days in space while aboard the Mir space station, breaking a duration record. [29] January 25 A rocket launched from the space exploration centre at Andøya, Norway is briefly interpreted by the Russians as an incoming attack. [29] February 3 US space shuttle mission STS 63 (Discovery 19) launches into orbit. [1] February 9 Dr. Bernard A. Harris, Jr. and Michael Foale become the first African American and Briton, respectively, to walk in space (mission STS-63). [29] February 11 Space shuttle STS-63 (Discovery 19), lands. [1] March 2 Space shuttle STS-67 (Endeavour 8), launches. [1] March 14 Astronaut Norman Thagard becomes the first American to ride into space aboard a Russian launch vehicle (the Soyuz TM-21), lifting off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. [5] [29] March 18 STS 67 (Endeavour 8) lands after 16.5 days. [1] March 22 Cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov returns after setting a record for 438 days in outer space. [29] June 6 U.S. astronaut Norman Thagard breaks NASA's space endurance record of 14 days, 1 hour and 16 minutes, aboard the Russian space station Mir. [29] June 29 Space Shuttle Atlantis first docks with the Russian space station Mir. [5] [29] October 6 Michael Mayor and Didier Queloz announce the discovery of 51 Pegasi b, the first confirmed Extrasolar planet. [29] October 24 A total solar eclipse is visible from Iran, India, Thailand, and Southeast Asia. [29] December 7 US NASA space probe Galileo arrives at Jupiter, a little more than six years after it was launched by Space Shuttle Atlantis. [1] [5] [29] 1996 January 11 Space Shuttle STS 72 (Endeavour 10), launches into space. [1] February 15 A Long March 3 at the Xichang launch site in China crashes into a rural village after liftoff, killing 500. [28] February 21 Soyuz TM-23 launched into orbit. [1] February 22 STS 75 (Columbia 19), launches into orbit. [1] February 29 Soyuz TM-23 lands. [1] March 7 First surface photos of Pluto (photographed by Hubble Space Telescope). [1] March 9 STS 75 (Columbia 19), lands. [1] March 22 STS 76 (Atlantis 16), launches into orbit. [1] March 25 Comet C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake) approaches within 0.1018 astronomical units (AUs) of Earth. [1] March 31 Space Shuttle STS 76 (Atlantis 16), lands. [1] April 3 A Lunar eclipse occurs. [28] April 30 Dutch/Italian Beppo-SAX launches from Cape Canaveral. [1] May 19 STS 77 (Endeavour 11), launches into orbit. [1] May 29 Space Shuttle STS 77 (Endeavour 11), lands. [1] August 6 NASA announces that the ALH 84001 meteorite, thought to originate from Mars, contains evidence of primitive life-forms. [28] August 13 Data sent back by the Galileo space probe indicates there may be water on one of Jupiter's moons. [28] November 7 NASA launches the Mars Global Surveyor. [28] November 19 Space Shuttle Columbia flies the longest mission (STS-80) of the Space Shuttle program. [28] December 4 NASA's first Mars rover launched from Cape Canaveral. [1] December 7 Space Shuttle STS 80 (Columbia 21), lands. [1] 1997 January 10 First comet of 1997 discovered: Comet 1997 A1. [1] January 11 Telstar 401 Satellite fails. [1] January 12 Space Shuttle STS 81 (Atlantis 18), launches into space. [1] January 15 Space Shuttle Atlantis docks with Mir Space Station. [1] January 17 A Delta II rocket carrying a military GPS payload explodes, shortly after liftoff from Cape Canaveral. [18] January 20 Comet Hale-Bopp crosses Mars' orbit. [1] January 22 Space Shuttle Atlantis returns to Earth. [1] February 10 Comet Shoemaker-Holt 2 Closest Approach to Earth (1.9245 AU). [1] Soyuz TM-25 launches to the MIR. [1] February 11 STS 82 (Discovery 22) launches. [1] February 13 Tune-up and repair work on the Hubble Space Telescope is started by astronauts from Space Shuttle Discovery. [1] [18] February 21 STS 82 (Discovery 22) lands. [1] February 23 A large fire occurs in the Russian space station Mir. [18] March 2 Soyuz TM-24 returns to Earth (Russia). [1] March 4 Comet Hale-Bopp directly above the Sun (1.04 AU). [1] Zeya Start-1 launched (Russia). [1] March 22 The comet Hale-Bopp makes its closest approach to Earth. [1] [18] March 31 Pioneer 10 ends its mission. [1] April 1 Comet Hale-Bopp Perihelion (0.914 AU). [1] April 4 DMSP Titan 2 launched. [1] STS 83 (Columbia 22), launches. [1] April 5 Galileo, third Ganymede Flyby (Orbit 7). [1] April 6 Progress M-34 Launch (Russia). [1] April 8 STS 83 (Columbia 22), lands. [1] April 21 A Pegasus rocket carries the remains of 24 people into earth orbit, in the first space burial. [1] [18] May 5 Iridium-1 Delta 2 Launch, Successful. [1] May 7 Galileo, fourth Ganymede Flyby (Orbit 8). [1] May 15 STS 84 (Atlantis 19), launches, 6th Shuttle-Mir Mission. [1] May 20 Cosmos Zenit-2 Launch (Russia), Failed. [1] Thor-2A Delta 2 Launch (Norway/USA), Successful. [1] May 24 STS 84 (Atlantis 19), lands. [1] Telstar-5 Proton Launch, successful. [1] June 25 An unmanned Progress spacecraft collides with the Russian Space station, Mir. [18] July 4 NASA's Pathfinder space probe lands on the surface of Mars. [18] September 11 NASA's Mars Global Surveyor reaches Mars. [5] October 15 NASA launches the Cassini-Huygens probe to Saturn. [18] December 5 STS 87 (Columbia 24) lands. [1] 1998 January 6 The Lunar Prospector spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently shadowed craters near the Moon's poles. [19] January 8 Cosmologists announce that the universe's expansion rate is increasing. [19] January 9 Anatoly Solovyov and Pavel Vinogradov spacewalk record 3 hours 8 minutes. [1] January 16 NASA announces that John Glenn, age 76, will return to space when the Space Shuttle Discovery blasts off in October. [1] [19] January 22 STS 89 (Endeavour 12) launches into orbit. [1] January 29 Soyuz TM-27 launches to MIR space station. [1] January 31 STS 89 (Endeavour 12) lands. [1] February 19 Soyuz TM-26 lands. [1] February 26 Total solar eclipse in Venezuela-Pacific Ocean (4 minutes 9 seconds). [1] March 2 Data sent from the Galileo probe indicates that Jupiter's moon Europa has a liquid ocean under a thick crust of ice. [19] March 5 NASA announces that the Clementine probe orbiting the Moon has found enough water in polar craters to support a human colony and rocket fueling station. [19] NASA announces the choice of United States Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Eileen Collins as commander of a future Space Shuttle Columbia mission to launch an X-ray telescope, making Collins the first woman commander of a space shuttle mission. [19] May 19 The Galaxy IV communications satellite fails, leaving 80-90 percent of the world's newspagers without service. [19] July 5 Japan launches a probe to Mars, joining the United States and Russia as an outer space-exploring nation. [19] August 31 North Korea reportedly launches Kwangmyongsong, its first satellite. Although North Korea reports that it reached stable orbit, NORAD is not able to confirm this assertion. [5] [19] October 29 The Space Shuttle Discovery blasts off with 77-year-old John Glenn on board, making him the oldest person to go into space. [19] November 7 John Glenn returns to Earth aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery. [19] November 20 The first module of the International Space Station, Zarya, is launched. [5] December 4 The second (Unity) module of the International Space Station is launched. [5] 1999 February 11 Pluto moves along its eccentric orbit further from the Sun than Neptune. It had been nearer than Neptune since 1979. [1] [20] July 20 Liberty Bell 7, part of the US Mercury program, is raised from the Atlantic Ocean. [20] July 31 NASA intentionally crashes the Lunar Prospector spacecraft into the Moon, thus ending its mission to detect frozen water on the lunar surface. [5] [20] August 11 A total solar eclipse is seen in Europe and Asia. [20] November 20 The People's Republic of China launches the first Shenzhou spacecraft. [20] December 3 NASA loses radio contact with the Mars Polar Lander, moments before the spacecraft enters the Martian atmosphere. [20] December 18 NASA launches into orbit the Terra platform carrying five Earth Observation instruments: ASTER, CERES, MISR, MODIS and MOPITT. [5] [20]