1930:
U.S. astronomer Clyde Tombaugh discovers the ninth
planet, Pluto. However, in August 2006, the International Astronomical Union redesignated Pluto as a dwarf planet
.
2000:
Japan’s Superbird 4 communications satellite is launched into geosynchronous-transfer orbit by Arianespace on an Ariane 5 launch vehicle
from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.
Feb. 19
1987:
Japan launches Marine Observation Satellite-1, a remote-sensing, ocean-monitoring satellite, from Tanegashima Space Center on a Japanese H-1 rocket. The satel
lite was the country’s first marine observation satellite.
Feb. 20
1947:
The United States begins the Blossom Project, in which V-2 rockets
carrying fruit flies and different seed types are launched to test their reaction to exposure to cosmic radiation.
2001:
Odin, an astronomy and atmospheric research satellite developed by the Swedish Space Corp.,
launches on a Start-1 launch vehicle from Svobodny in Russia’s Far East.
Feb. 21
2006:
The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency launches the Akari sky surveyor satellite on an M-5 rocket from Japan’s Uchinoura Space Center. The probe’s primary mission was to create an infrared map of the known universe.
Feb. 22
1986:
In the last flight of the launch vehicle, a
n Ariane 1 rocket lofts France’s Spot 1 remote sensing satellite and Sweden’s Viking science satellite from Kourou, French Guiana.
2000:
NASA’s Galileo probe performs a flyby of
Jupiter’s moon Io. The spacecraft was deployed in October 1989 from
Space Shuttle Atlantis during the STS-34 mission.