Daily Extra :
Stars scribble on our eyes the frosty sagas,
The gleaming cantos of unvanquished space . . .
Hart Crane (1899–1932)
Who Was Born Today?:
Who Died Today?:
Today in History:
1610: Galileo Galilei points his newly developed telescope at the sky and observes craters and mountains on the Moon, moving spots on the Sun, four moons revolving around Jupiter, the phases of Venus, and the almost innumerable stars of the Milky Way. Jan 4 thru 15, 1601 are called by some the most important days in the history of astronomy.
1969: Launch of Venera 5 spacecraft, second spacecraft to return data from Venus atmosphere. Venera 5 arrived at Venus on May 16, 1969. Along with Venera 6, atmospheric data was returned indicating an atmosphere composed of 93-97% carbon dioxide, 2-5% nitrogen, and less than 4% oxygen. The probe returned data down to within 26 kilometers of surface and was then lost - crushed by the pressure on Venus.
1834: Kiowa Indians record this as the night the stars fell
1905: Charles Perrine announces discovery of Jupiter's 7th satellite, Elara
1972: President Nixon signs a bill for NASA to begin research on manned shuttle 1972: NASA announces development of space shuttle