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

On this day in 2004 – March 2nd – ESA launched its Rosetta spacecraft.

Rosetta would travel for ten years and billions of miles in order to rendezvous with a comet, accompany it as it moved through the inner Solar System past the Sun, and deploy a lander.

Mona, I would have loved to be on board for one of your talks. The Princess Royal offered Discovery at Sea, "Star Gazing" put on by the cruise staff. <SIGH>

Angie, Cunard's Queen Mary 2 gets (not every voyage) speakers from the Royal Astronomical Society. But even at Cuanrd prices (astronomical!) they don't give much advance notice about which speakers will be be on board. I know a number of astronomers who do cruises for different lines, giving talks and - weather permitting - star gazing on deck. But even though astronomy is popular, it gets treated rather casually by the cruise lines and the staff.

On this day in 1972 – March 2nd – NASA's Pioneer 10 was launched.

Pioneer 10 was the first spacecraft to cross the Asteroid Belt and to complete the first mission to Jupiter. It's now about 118 au from the Sun, heading out of the Solar System in the direction of the constellation Taurus.

On this day in 1923 – March 4th – Patrick Moore, English amateur astronomer, writer and broadcaster, was born.

He was best known as the enthusiastic and knowledgeable presenter of the BBC TV program The Sky at Night, which he began in 1957. Although Sir Patrick is no longer with us, the program goes on and is the world's longest-running television series.

On this day in 1512 – March 5th – Gerardus Mercator was born.

Mercator was a German-Flemish cartographer, geographer and cosmographer. He created the 1569 world map based on a new projection that represented sailing courses of constant bearing as straight lines—an innovation that is still employed in nautical charts.

On this day in 1937 – March 6th – Valentina Tereshkova was born.

Valentina Tereshkova was the first woman in space. She was a Soviet cosmonaut who spent three days orbiting in Vostok 6.

On this day in 1787 – March 6th – Joseph Fraunhofer was born.


Fraunhofer was a German optician who was known for the quality of his optical glass and excellent telescope objectives. His name is still known today for his discovery of the dark absorption lines - known as Fraunhofer lines - in the Sun's spectrum.

On this day in 2009 – March 6th – NASA launched its planet-hunter Kepler.


As of February 2017 Kepler had found nearly 2500 confirmed exoplanets and four thousand possibles for further investigation.

On this day in 2015 – March 6th – NASA'S Dawn spacecraft went into orbit around dwarf planet Ceres.

Dawn had already orbited the asteroid Vesta before being the first spacecraft to visit a dwarf planet.