Daily Extra :
regio: A region.
Who Was Born Today?:
1957: C Michael Foale, Louth England, astronaut, STS 45, 56, 63, 84/86
1963: Philippe Perrin, Meknes Morocco, Lt Col FAF/astronaut
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.
1949: The first atomic clock was built. It was based on earlier theoretical work by Isidor Rabi and used ammonia as its pendulum
1967: The Surveyor 1 spacecraft is reactivated after almost 6 months dormancy on the lunar surface.
1987: Astronomers at University of California see 1st sight of birth of a galaxy
1998: Lunar Prospector - USA Lunar Orbiter was launched and arrived at the Moon on January 11, 1998. It is designed for a low polar orbit investigation of the Moon, including the mapping of surface composition and possible ice deposits, the measuring of magnetic and gravity fields, and the study of lunar outgassing events. This data could help scientists plan a potential lunar base and develop theories of the formation of the Moon, Earth and Solar System. Its mission is scheduled to last one to three years.