Daily Extra :
Astronomy & Space Word of The Day
superior planets: The planets Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto are called superior planets because their orbits are farther from the Sun than Earth's orbit. (Mercury and Venus are called "inferior" planets.)
Today in History:
1678: Edmund Halley graduated from the University of Oxford
1965: Launch of Luna 8, attempted soft-lander, to the Moon. Crashed in the Sea of Storms. Luna 8 failed and impacted the moon.
1971: The USSR's Mars 3 becomes the first spacecraft to make a soft landing on the red planet.
1973: The US's Pioneer 10 is the first spacecraft to flyby Jupiter. Pioneer 11 flew by Jupiter one year later.
1999: Contact is lost with the Mars Polar Lander and Deep Space 2 probes after they enter the martian atmosphere.
2001: Genesis spacecraft deploys collection arrays, begins gathering solar wind particles.