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On this day in 2003 – July 7th – NASA's Mars rover Opportunity was launched.

Opportunity's mission was expected to last 90 Martian days (92.5 Earth days). Opportunity is now nearly halfway through its thirteenth year of exploring Mars.

On this day in 1962 – July 10th – Telstar 1 was launched.

Telstar 1 was the first active communications satellite. It was a test satellite, and paved the way for future developments.

On this day in 1965 – July 14th – Mariner 4 completed a flyby of Mars.

Six attempts to get a spacecraft to Mars had preceded it, but Mariner 4 was the first successful Mars mission.

On this day in 2015 – July 14th – New Horizons made a historic flyby of Pluto.

The data is still coming from the distant spacecraft.

On this day in 1969 – July 16th – Apollo 11 was launched.

Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins weren't the first astronauts to go to the Moon, but they were the first ones that were expected to land on the Moon.

On this day in 1850 - July 17th - the first ever photograph of a star (other than the Sun) was taken.

The star was Vega and the photo was taken at Harvard Observatory by its director William Cranch Bond and Boston photographer John Adams Whipple.

On this day in 1921 - July 18th - John Glenn was born.

John Glenn was the first American to orbit the Earth, and since then the oldest person to go into space.

Here is an Infographic about John Glenn. (Credit: Karl Tate, SPACE.com)

On this day in 1846 - July 19th - Edward Pickering was born.

Edward Charles Pickering was a leading light of 19th century astronomy who made the Harvard College Observatory into an institution with an international reputation.

On this day in 1969 - July 20th - Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin were the first humans to set foot on the Moon.

The Apollo 11 lander set down in the Mare Tranquillitas (Sea of Tranquility).

On this day in 1620 - July 21th - Jean Picard was born.

This French astronomer made the first measurements of what's now the Paris meridian. From his measurements he calculated the size of the Earth. Isaac Newton used and acknowledged Picard's work.