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The Moon

The Moon

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The Earth's only natural satelite
Timeline
c.    0850  CE(Between 850-1100) Native Indians in Chaco Canyon [New Mexico] built multistory buildings and roads. Evidence was later discovered that they designed a vast map of the yearly sun cycle and the 19-year cycle of the moon.
  4 Jul 1054  CEChinese and Arabian observers first documented the massive supernova of the Crab Nebula, It was reportedly six times brighter than Venus and was only outshone by the sun and moon and could be observed in broad daylight for 23 days.
  5 Jun 1099  CEKnights and their families on the First Crusade witnessed an eclipse of the moon and interpreted it as a sign from God that they would recapture Jerusalem.
    1178  CEProposed time of origin of lunar crater Giordano Bruno 5 Canterbury monks report explosion on the moon (the only such observation known).
    1574  CETycho Brahe observes that a comet is beyond the moon.
    1609  CEThomas Harriot maps the moon using a telescope
    1610  CEGalileo Galilei observes craters on the moon.
    1665  CEIsaac Newton deduces the inverse-square gravitational force law from the 'falling' of the Moon.
    1825  CEPierre Laplace completes his study of gravitation, the stability of the solar system, tides, the precession of the equinoxes, the libration of the Moon and Saturn's rings in 'Mécanique Céleste' (Celestial Mechanics).
  2 Jan 1839  CEFrench photographer Louis Daguerre takes the first photograph of the Moon.
    1840  CEDraper takes first successful photo of the Moon (a daguerrotype).
    1840  CEJohn W. Draper of New York invents astronomical photography and makes the first US celestial photograph of the Moon.
    1849  CEWilliam Bond obtains the first photograph of Moon through a telescope.
    1902  CEThe first science fiction film,'A Trip to the Moon' by Georges Méliès, pioneer of film fantasy, is released.
    1912  CESmallest earth-moon distance this century, which was 356,375 km center-to-center.
 17 Jan 1923  CEThe origin of Brown lunation numbers. A lunation begins at the dark moon (astronomical conjunction of Sun and Moon), and the next dark moon marks the beginning of the next lunation. Lunations are numbered -1, 0, 1, 2, ... in temporal order.
    1930  CESeth Nicholson measures the surface temperature of the Moon
    1946  CEThe US Army establishes the first radar contact with Moon, Belmar, New Jersey.
    1948  CEA flash of light is observed in the crater Plato on the Moon
    1950  CEBecause of forest fire in British Columbia, blue moon appears in England.
    1958  CEWorld's 1st Moon probe, US's Thor-Able, explodes at T +77 sec
    1958  CEThe second US Moon probe, Pioneer 1, reaches 113,810 km, and falls back to Earth.
 13 Sep 1959  CEUSSR Luna 2, the hard lander, is the first human-made device to impact the Moon east of Mare Serenitatis.
    1959  CEFar side of Moon seen for 1st time by USSR's Luna 3
    1959  CESoviet Luna 3, 1st successful photographic spacecraft, impacts Moon
 25 May 1961  CEJohn F Kennedy sets goal of putting a man on Moon before the end of decade.
    1961  CEUS Ranger 2 launched to Moon; failed.
 23 Apr 1962  CEUS Ranger 4, 1the first US satellite to impact the Moon launched from Cape Canaveral.
 18 Oct 1962  CEUS Ranger 5 launches for the Moon. It was to be a lander but became a flyby because of a spacecraft failure.
    1962  CEThe Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter & Saturn are aligned within 16 degrees of each other.
    1962  CEUS launches Ranger 3, misses Moon by 22,000-mile (37,000-km).
    1962  CEUS Ranger 4 spacecraft crash lands on the Moon.
  2 Apr 1963  CESoviet Luna 4 launches. It was intended to be a lunar lander but missed the Moon and is now in an Earth Moon orbit.
    1964  CERanger 6 launched; makes perfect flight to Moon, but cameras fail
    1965  CEUSSR launches Luna 7; crash lands on Moon
    1965  CEUSSR launches Luna 8; crashes on Moon
    1965  CEUSSR launches Luna 5; later impacts on Moon
    1965  CEUS Ranger 9 strikes Moon, 10 miles (16 km) northeast of crater Alphonsus
    1965  CERanger 8 makes hard landing on the Moon, returns photos, other data
    1965  CEUSSR launches Luna 6; missed Moon
    1966  CEUSSR launches Luna 9 toward the Moon
    1966  CEUSSR launches Luna 11 for orbit around Moon
    1966  CELuna 10 becomes the first spacecraft to orbit the Moon 
    1966  CESoviet Union's Luna 10 becomes 1st spacecraft to orbit Moon
    1966  CELunar Orbiter 1 takes 1st photograph of Earth from Moon
    1966  CELuna 13 lands on Moon
    1966  CEThe first US lunar orbiter begins orbiting the Moon
    1966  CEUS Surveyor B launched toward Moon; crashed Sept 23
    1966  CEThe first soft landing on the Moon (Soviet Luna 9)
    1966  CEUS Surveyor probe lands safely on moon 
    1966  CEUS launches Surveyor 1 to the Moon
    1966  CEUSSR launches Luna 12 for orbit around Moon
    1967  CESurveyor 6 becomes 1st man-made object to lift off the Moon
    1967  CEUS launches Surveyor 6; makes soft landing on Moon Nov 9
    1967  CELunar Orbiter 4 launched by US; begins orbiting Moon May 7
    1967  CESurveyor 5 launched; makes soft landing on Moon Sept 10
    1967  CESurveyor 3 launched; soft lands on Moon, April 20
    1967  CEUS Surveyor 3 lands on Moon
 21 Dec 1968  CEApollo 8, the first manned Moon voyage, launches for moon orbit. The crew were: Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders.
 23 Dec 1968  CEBorman, Lovell & Anders become 1st men to orbit Moon
 24 Dec 1968  CEFrank Borman transmits a Christmas reading from Apollo 8, while orbiting Moon.
 27 Dec 1968  CEApollo 8 retuns safely to earth after moon orbit. 
    1968  CEZond 5 completes circumnavigation of the Moon
    1968  CESurveyor 7 lands on the Moon
    1968  CEApollo 5 launched to Moon; unmanned lunar module tests made
    1968  CEPhotograph of Earth from the moon.
    1968  CESurveyor 7 space probe soft lands on the Moon
    1968  CEKenneth Nordtvedt studies a possible violation of the weak equivalence principle for self-gravitating bodies and proposes a new test of the weak equivalence principle based on observing the relative motion of the Earth and Moon in the Sun's gravitational field
    1968  CESurveyor 7 (last of series) launched by US for soft-landing on Moon
 16 Jul 1969  CEApollo 11 launches for the Moon. The crew were: Neil A. Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin E. Aldrin. 
 20 Jul 1969  CEApollo 11 astronaut Neil A. Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon. Fellow astronaut Edwin E. Aldrin becomes the second to walk on the moon.
 24 Jul 1969  CEApollo 11 returns safely to earth from the moon. 
 14 Nov 1969  CEApollo 12 launches for the moon; beoming the 2nd manned Moon landing. The Crew were: Charles Conrad, Richard F. Gordon and Alan L. Bean.
   Nov 1969  CECharles Conrad and Alan L. Bean become 3rd and 4th humans to walk on the Moon.
    1969  CEAstronauts send first live photographs from the moon.
 11 Apr 1970  CEApollo 13 launches for the Moon but is unable to land and returns in 6 days.
    1970  CELuna 16 leaves the Moon
    1970  CERussia lands Lunokhod 1 unmanned remote-controlled vehicle on Moon
   Feb 1971  CEApollo 14, 3rd US manned Moon expedition, lands near Fra Mauro. Alan Shepard and Edward Mitchell walk on Moon for 4 hours.
   Feb 1971  CEThe first time a golf ball is hit on the Moon (by Alan Shepard).
 
 Feb 1971  CEApollo 14 lander Antares lands on Moon (Shepard & Mitchell).
 
 
 Jul 1971  CEApollo 15 astronaut Dave Scott becomes 1st person to drive a car on the Moon.
 
 
 Apr 1972  CEApollo 16 astronauts John Young and Charles Duke explore the Moon.
 
 
 Apr 1972  CEApollo 16 astronauts John W. Young and Charles M. Duke land on Moon and explore with with Boeing Lunar Rover #2.
 
 
7 Dec 1972  CEApollo 17, the last of Apollo Moon series, is launched for the moon.
 
 
19 Dec 1972  CEApollo 17, the last of Apollo Moon landing series, returns safely to Earth.
 
 
 Dec 1972  CEApollo 17 astronauts Eugene A. Cernan and Harrison H. Schmit become 11th & 12th humans to walk on the Moon.
 
 
  1972  CELuna 20 (Russia) launched to orbit & soft landing on Moon
 
 
  1973  CELuna 21 launched, to Moon
 
 
  1973  CEUSSR's Lunakhod 2 begins radio-controlled exploration of the Moon
 
 
  1973  CEUSSR launches Luna 21 for Moon landing
 
 
  1976  CEUSSR's Luna 24 soft-lands on Moon
 
 
  1977  CEUS Voyager I takes 1st space photograph of Earth & Moon together
 
 
  1989  CETotal eclipse of the Moon.
 
 
  1989  CEConjunction of Venus, Mars, Uranus, Neptune, Saturn and the Moon.
 
 
25 Jan 1994  CEUS space probe Clementine launched, the official name being 'Deep Space Probe Science Experiment' (DSPSE). It was a Department of Defense program used to test new space technology and spent 70 days in lunar orbit, its four cameras mapped the surface of the Moon at 125-250 meters/pixel resolution.
 
 
Note 1: Events described with text like this have been entered from one source but have not yet been verified against a subsequent source ( Explain ).
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