BellaOnline Forums Education Astronomy 2017: Astronomy and Space on this day

On this day in 1969 – May 22nd – the Apollo 10 lunar module dropped to within 50,000 feet of the lunar surface.

This mission was the dress rehearsal for Apollo 11 in which astronauts first landed on the Moon.

On this day in 1951 – May 26th – US physics professor and astronaut Sally Ride was born.

Dr Ride was the first American woman to go into space. Her first flight was almost twenty years to the day after cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space.

On this day in 1919 – May 29th – Einstein's Theory of General Relativity was tested during a solar eclipse.

By comparing the apparent distance between stars in the constellation Taurus, with and without the Sun between them, British astrophysicist Arthur Eddington confirmed the theoretical predictions about gravitational lenses.

On this day in 1794 – May 29th – German astronomer Johann Heinrich von Mädler was born.

Von Mädler, along with Wilhelm Beer, published Mappa Selenographica, the most complete map of the Moon at that time, and which remained unsurpassed for over forty years.

On this day in 1975 – May 30th – nine countries signed the convention to establish the European Space Agency (ESA).

The convention came into force on 30 October 1980 with the deposit of the last instrument of ratification.

On this day in 1934 – May 30th – cosmonaut Alexi Leonov was born.

Among Leonov's accomplishments, he was the first person to carry out a "spacewalk".

On this day in 1963 – May 30th – the first British astronaut Dr. Helen Sharman was born.

Sharman flew into space on Soyuz TM-12 in May 1991.

On this day in 1930 – June 2nd – Apollo astronaut Charles "Pete" Conrad Jr. was born.

During the Apollo 12 mission Conrad became the third person to walk on the Moon.

On this day in 2003 – June 2nd – ESA launched Mars Express and Beagle 2.

Mars Express is still an operational orbiter. The British lander Beagle 2 was damaged as it landed on Mars and never became operational.

On this day in 1858 – June 2nd – Giovanni Battista Donati first observed the comet that bears his name.

Comet Donati, formally designated C/1858 L1 and 1858 VI, was one of the most brilliant comets of the 19th century. It inspired artists and poets and was also the first comet to be photographed, though the photograph has been lost.