Anniversary - Orson Welles "War of the Worlds" Radio Broadcast (1938)
Mars
The fictional Martian invasion was heard round the world when Orson Welles broadcast a radio adaption of the book by H.G. Wells on October 30, 1938. There have been many productions since then but Welles' show is by far the most famous and infamous, since it caused true terror in the United States.
Thursday, October 30, 2025.
Halloween Fun!
Other
Spooky on the Space Station and Halloween on the ISS , NASA Halloween Playlist , Here are 10 Ways to Celebrate Halloween with NASA , Take a tour and print out posters of some of the most terrifying and mind-blowing exoplanets discovered, in the Galaxy of Horrors , Enjoy some Halloween-y astronomical images from NASA’s Astronomy Photo of the Day , Need a quick costume? Check out the planet masks activity , Halloween History from space , Spooky Sounds from Across the Solar System Playlist on Soundcloud.
Event Type: Annual /Historic.
Friday, October 31, 2025.
New "What's Up" Video Available
Our Sky
Get your monthly overview of the night sky.
Event Type: Online Presentation/Interaction. Online Event Type: For Classrooms.
Saturday, November 1, 2025.
Native American Heritage Month
Other
November is National Native American Heritage Month. The Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum join in paying tribute to the rich ancestry and traditions of Native Americans.
Event Type: Annual /Historic.
Saturday, November 1, 2025 – Sunday, November 30, 2025.
Anniversary - Expedition 1 Docks at ISS (2000)
Human Spaceflight
NASA astronaut Commander William Shepherd and Russian cosmonauts Sergei Krikalev and Yuri Gidzenko, the first resident crew members of the International Space Station, begin a planned four month stay.
Event Type: Annual /Historic. Annual / Historic: Historic Anniversary. Mission Event Type: Mission Highlight.
Sunday, November 2, 2025.
For more info visit www.nasa.gov. Anniversary - Mariner 3 Launch Failure (1964)
Mars
Mariner 3 was designed to fly by Mars and conduct other interplanetary experiments along the way. However, soon after its launch, the shroud encasing the spacecraft atop its rocket failed to open properly and the mission was unsuccessful.
Three weeks later, the Mariner 4 spacecraft launched successfully on an eight-month journey to the Red Planet and collected the first up-close photographs of another planet.
Wednesday, November 5, 2025, 11:22 AM.
For more info visit www.jpl.nasa.gov. Anniversary - Robert Millikan Confirms Cosmic Rays From Outer Space (1925)
Astrophysics
Cosmic rays provide one of our few direct samples of matter from outside the solar system. They are high energy particles that move through space at nearly the speed of light. Most cosmic rays are atomic nuclei stripped of their atoms with protons (hydrogen nuclei) being the most abundant type but nuclei of elements as heavy as lead have been measured. Within cosmic-rays however we also find other sub-atomic particles like neutrons electrons and neutrinos. More from Imagine the Universe! here.
Event Type: Annual /Historic.
Sunday, November 9, 2025.
Origami Day
Other
Did you know that NASA uses origami principles for space exploration? Check out the Chandra Observatory's Origami Universe website for hands-on activities and real-world STEM applications of origami principles, and fold your own Starshade (also available in Spanish)!
Event Type: Annual /Historic.
Monday, November 10, 2025.
Anniversary STS-74 (Space Shuttle Atlantis) Launch (1995)
Human Spaceflight
Commander Kenneth D. Cameron, Pilot James D. Halsell Jr. Mission Specialists Jerry L. Ross, William S. McArthur Jr. and Chris A. Hadfield. More info.
Event Type: Annual /Historic. Annual / Historic: Historic Anniversary.
Wednesday, November 12, 2025.
For more info visit www.nasa.gov. Anniversary - Mariner 9 Orbit Insertion, First spacecraft to orbit Mars (1971)
Mars
Mariner 9. At 00:18 UT Nov. 14, 1971, Mariner 9 ignited its main engine for 915.6 seconds to become the first human-made object to enter orbit around another planet: Mars.
Event Type: Annual /Historic. Annual / Historic: Historic Anniversary. Mission Event Type: Launch.
Thursday, November 13, 2025, 4:18 PM.
For more info visit solarsystem.nasa.gov. Anniversary - STS-33 (Space Shuttle Discovery) Launch (1989)
Human Spaceflight
Commander Frederick D. Gregory, Pilot John E. Blaha, Mission Specialists F. Story Musgrave, Manley L. Carter, Jr. and Kathryn C. Thornton. More info.
Event Type: Annual /Historic. Annual / Historic: Historic Anniversary.
Saturday, November 22, 2025.
For more info visit www.nasa.gov. Bill Nye's 70th Birthday (1955)
Other
Bill Nye, the Science Guy, is a popular science communicator, known from television and radio, and other media. He is currently the CEO of the Planetary Society.
Event Type: Annual /Historic.
Thursday, November 27, 2025.
For more info visit www.jpl.nasa.gov. Anniversary - Mariner 4 Launch (1964)
Mars
One of the great successes of the early American space program, the Mariner 4 mission journeyed to Mars -- making its closest approach on July 15, 1965 -- and took the first photos of another planet from space.
In addition to providing key information about how to safely deliver future missions to the Martian surface, the spacecraft far outlasted its planned eight-month mission. It lasted about three years in solar orbit, continuing long-term studies of the solar wind and making coordinated measurements with the Mariner 5 spacecraft.
Friday, November 28, 2025, 6:22 AM.
For more info visit www.jpl.nasa.gov. Anniversary -STS-97 (Space Shuttle Endeavour) Launch (2000)
Human Spaceflight
Commander Brent Jett, Pilot Michael Bloomfield, Mission Specialists Joseph Tanner, Marc Garneau and Carlos Noriega. More info here.
Event Type: Annual /Historic. Annual / Historic: Historic Anniversary.
Sunday, November 30, 2025.
For more info visit www.nasa.gov. New "What's Up" Video Available
Our Sky
Get your monthly overview of the night sky.
Event Type: Online Presentation/Interaction. Online Event Type: For Classrooms.
Monday, December 1, 2025.
Computer Science Education Week
Other
Computer Science Educational Resources from NASA
Coding activities from JPL
Tynker’s space-themed coding activities.
Event Type: Annual /Historic. Annual / Historic: Annual Event.
Monday, December 1, 2025 – Friday, December 5, 2025.
For more info visit www.csedweek.org. NASA Space Place's Art Challenge
Other
Do you love making art and using your imagination? So do we! Every NASA mission starts with a creative idea about how to explore something in a new way. Get creative and submit your art before the deadline at the end of the month!
Monday, December 1, 2025.
Anniversary - STS-35 (Space Shuttle Columbia) Launch (1990)
Human Spaceflight
Commander Vance D. Brand, Pilot Guy S. Gardner, Mission Specialists Jeffrey A. Hoffman, John M. Lounge, Robert A. Parker and Payload Specialists Samuel T. Durrance and Ronald A. Parise. More info here.
Event Type: Annual /Historic. Annual / Historic: Historic Anniversary.
Tuesday, December 2, 2025.
For more info visit www.nasa.gov. Anniversary - Gemini 7 Launch (1965)
Human Spaceflight
Gemini 7 was the fourth crewed Earth-orbiting spacecraft of the Gemini series, having been launched before Gemini 6A. It carried astronauts Frank Borman and Jim Lovell on the 14 day mission. Its mission priorities were (1) to demonstrate a 2-week flight, (2) to perform stationkeeping with the Gemini launch vehicle stage 2, (3) to evaluate the 'shirt sleeve' environment and the lightweight pressure suit, (4) to act as a rendezvous target for Gemini 6, and (5) to demonstrate controlled reentry close to the target landing point. The crew members had three scientific, four technological, four spacecraft, and eight medical experiments to perform. More info here.
Event Type: Annual /Historic. Annual / Historic: Historic Anniversary.
Saturday, December 6, 2025.
For more info visit www.nasa.gov. Anniversary - Apollo 17 Launch (1972)
Human Spaceflight
The Apollo 17 lunar landing site was the Taurus-Littrow highlands and valley area. This site was picked as a location where rocks both older and younger than those previously returned from other Apollo missions, as well as from Luna 16 and 20 missions, might be found.
More on the mission here from the National Space Science Data Center, the permanent archive for NASA space science mission data.
Also see the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal for transcripts and more.
Event Type: Annual /Historic. Annual / Historic: Historic Anniversary.
Saturday, December 6, 2025, 9:33 PM.
For more info visit www.nasa.gov. International Civil Aviation Day
Aeronautics
The purpose of International Civil Aviation Day is to help generate and reinforce worldwide awareness of the importance of international civil aviation to the social and economic development of States, and of the unique role of ICAO in helping States to cooperate and realize a truly global rapid transit network at the service of all mankind.
Learn more about NASA Aeronautics.
Event Type: Annual /Historic. Annual / Historic: Annual Event.
Sunday, December 7, 2025.
For more info visit www.un.org. Anniversary - Gemini 6 & 7 Make 1st Manned Spacecraft Rendezvous (1965)
Human Spaceflight
On December 15, 1965, Gemini VI and VII met for the first rendezvous in space. This was not NASA’s original plan. Gemini VI, commanded by Mercury astronaut Wally Schirra and piloted by Tom Stafford, was supposed to have orbited on October 25, to rendezvous and dock with an Agena target vehicle. But the unpiloted Agena spacecraft blew up during launch that morning, stranding the crew waiting in their vehicle on Launch Complex 19. This failure could set the program back months. But then Walter Burke and John Yardley of Gemini spacecraft contractor McDonnell Aircraft remembered an idea earlier floated by Titan II booster contractor Martin: launch two Geminis in quick succession. Gemini VII was to be next in early December. Stafford’s fellow Group 2 astronauts Frank Borman and Jim Lovell were scheduled to endure a two-week medical mission, proving that humans could survive the longest possible Apollo mission to the Moon. Why not launch Gemini VII first, then clean up the launch pad and send VI, now called VI-A by…
Event Type: Annual /Historic. Annual / Historic: Annual Event.
Monday, December 15, 2025.
Anniversary - Gemini 6 Launch (1965)
Human Spaceflight
Gemini 6A was the fifth crewed Earth-orbiting spacecraft of the Gemini series, having been launched after Gemini 7, with the intent of making rendezvous with Gemini 7 in Earth orbit. The astronauts on the 26 hour mission were Walter Schirra and Thomas Stafford. The mission priorities were to demonstrate on-time launch procedures, closed-loop rendezvous capabilities, and stationkeeping techniques with Gemini 7. Other objectives were to evaluate the spacecraft reentry guidance capabilities, and conduct spacecraft systems tests and four experiments. This mission was originally designated Gemini 6 and scheduled for launch on 25 October but was cancelled when the Agena target vehicle failed to go into orbit an hour earlier. More info.
Event Type: Annual /Historic. Annual / Historic: Historic Anniversary.
Monday, December 15, 2025.
Anniversary - 1st Song Performed in Space (1965)
Human Spaceflight
..it was "jingle Bells." Read the story here.
Event Type: Annual /Historic. Annual / Historic: Historic Anniversary.
Tuesday, December 16, 2025.
Anniversary - Discovery of the First Object in the Asteroid Belt (1801)
Our Sky
Dwarf planet Ceres is the largest object in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter and the only dwarf planet located in the inner solar system. It was the first member of the asteroid belt to be discovered when Giuseppe Piazzi spotted it in 1801. And when Dawn arrived in 2015, Ceres became the first dwarf planet to receive a visit from a spacecraft. Called an asteroid for many years, Ceres is so much bigger and so different from its rocky neighbors that scientists classified it as a dwarf planet in 2006. Learn more about Ceres here and more about the discovery here.
Annual / Historic: Historic Anniversary.
Thursday, January 1, 2026.
New "What's Up" Video Available
Our Sky
Get your monthly overview of the night sky.
Event Type: Online Presentation/Interaction. Online Event Type: For Classrooms.
Thursday, January 1, 2026.
Happy New Year
Other
How do we decide it's the start of a new year? More about calendars here.
Event Type: Annual /Historic. Annual / Historic: Annual Event.
Thursday, January 1, 2026.
NASA Space Place's Art Challenge
Other
Do you love making art and using your imagination? So do we! Every NASA mission starts with a creative idea about how to explore something in a new way. Get creative and submit your art before the deadline at the end of the month!
Thursday, January 1, 2026.
National Trivia Day
Check out the NASA Kahoot! channel for some fun ways to test your knowledge!
Event Type: Annual /Historic. Annual / Historic: Annual Event.
Sunday, January 4, 2026.
Anniversary - President Nixon Approves Space Shuttle Program (1972)
Human Spaceflight
After the United States achieved President John F. Kennedy’s goal of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth, policymakers asked the question, after Apollo, what next? Shortly after taking office in 1969, President Richard M. Nixon empaneled a group of experts to provide him with recommendations on the nation’s future direction in space. Faced with tight federal budgets, President Nixon could not support most of the panel’s recommendations due to their high cost. In January 1972, he directed NASA to develop and build a reusable space transportation system, commonly known as the space shuttle. The reusability of the shuttle’s components was expected to provide regular access to space to many customers, while at the same time reducing costs.
Read more here.
Event Type: Annual /Historic.
Monday, January 5, 2026.
Anniversary - Jacob Bernoulli's Birthday (1655)
Aeronautics
In 1738, Bernoulli published “Hydrodynamica” his study in fluid dynamics, or the study of how fluids behave when they are in motion. Air, like water, is a fluid; however, unlike water, which is a liquid, air is a gaseous substance. Air is considered a fluid because it flows and can take on different shapes. Bernoulli asserted that as a fluid moves faster, it produces less pressure, and conversely, slower moving fluids produce greater pressure.
Bernoulli's Principle On-Board the International Space Station video here
Demonstrate the Bernoulli Principle with these hands-on lessons:
K-4, Grades 5-8.
Event Type: Annual /Historic.
Tuesday, January 6, 2026.
Anniversary- Jacques Etienne Montgolfier's Birthday (1745)
Other
In 1783, the Montgolfier brothers demonstrated the first hot air balloon. Constructed of silk and paper and fueled by heated air (which they named "Montgolfier gas"), the flight lasted 10 minutes, reaching a peak altitude of 2,000 meters (6,600 feet). A few months later, on September 19, 1783, a sheep, rooster and duck became the first hot air balloon passengers. The Montgolfier brothers then sent three passengers on the first human hot air balloon ride on November 21, 1783.
Learn about NASA's use of balloons for science here.
Event Type: Annual /Historic.
Tuesday, January 6, 2026.
Anniversary - 1st Exoplanets Discovered (1992)
Other
On 9 January 1992, radio astronomers Aleksander Wolszczan and Dale Frail announced the discovery of two planets orbiting the pulsar PSR 1257+12. Explore the timeline of exoplanet exploration here and the most recent count of how many planets outside our solar system have been discovered here.
Event Type: Annual /Historic.
Friday, January 9, 2026.
Anniversary- Radar Astronomy Born When Radar Bounced Off Moon by the US Army (1946)
Astrophysics
"Project Diana". Learn more about radar astronomy and maybe even try it yourself.
Event Type: Annual /Historic.
Saturday, January 10, 2026.
Anniversary STS-72 (Space Shuttle Endeavour) Launch (1996)
Human Spaceflight
Commander Brian Duffy, Pilot Brent W. Jett, Mission Specialists Leroy Chiao, Daniel T. Barry, Winston E. Scott and Koichi Wakata. More info here.
Event Type: Annual /Historic. Annual / Historic: Historic Anniversary.
Sunday, January 11, 2026.
Anniversary - STS-61-C (Space Shuttle Columbia) Launch (1986)
Human Spaceflight
Commander Robert L. Gibson, Pilot Charles F. Bolden, Jr. Mission Specialists Franklin R. Chang-Diaz, Steven A. Hawley, George D. Nelson and Payload Specialists Robert J. Cenker and Congressman Bill Nelson. More info here.
Event Type: Annual /Historic. Annual / Historic: Historic Anniversary.
Monday, January 12, 2026.
Anniversary - STS-81 Launch (Space Shuttle Atlantis) Launch (1997)
Human Spaceflight
The first shuttle flight of 1997 which was highlighted by the return of U.S. astronaut John Blaha to Earth after 118-day stay aboard the Russian Space Station Mir and the largest transfer to date of logistics between the two spacecraft. Atlantis also returned carrying the first plants to complete a life cycle in space -- a crop of wheat grown from seed to seed. This fifth of nine planned dockings continued Phase 1B of the NASA/Russian Space Agency cooperative effort, with Linenger becoming the third U.S. astronaut in succession to live on Mir.
Commander Michael A. Baker, Pilot Brent W. Jett, Jr. Mission Specialists John M. Grunsfeld, Marsha S. Ivins, Peter J. Wisoff and Jerry M. Linenger.
Event Type: Annual /Historic. Annual / Historic: Historic Anniversary.
Monday, January 12, 2026.
Anniversary - New Horizons Launch (2006)
Our Solar System
The New Horizons spacecraft gave us our first close look at Pluto with its historic July 14, 2015 flyby.
http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/.
Event Type: Mission Event. Annual /Historic. Annual / Historic: Historic Anniversary. Mission Event Type: Launch.
Monday, January 19, 2026.
Anniversary - STS-42 (Space Shuttle Discovery) Launch (1992)
Human Spaceflight
STS-42's primary payload was the International Microgravity Laboratory-1 (IML-1), making its first flight and using the pressurized Spacelab module. The International crew was divided into two teams for around-the-clock research on the human nervous system's adaptation to low gravity and the effects of microgravity on other life forms such as shrimp eggs, lentil seedlings, fruit fly eggs, and bacteria.
Commander Ronald J. Grabe, Pilot Stephen S. Oswald, Mission Specialists Norman E. Thagard, David C. Hilmers, William F. Readdy and Payload Specialists Roberta L. Bondar and Ulf D. Merbold.
Thursday, January 22, 2026.
Anniversary - Great Comet of 1472 Near-Earth Flyby (10.5 million km)
Our Sky
Comets are frozen leftovers from the formation of the solar system composed of dust, rock, and ices. They range from a few miles to tens of miles wide, but as they orbit closer to the Sun, they heat up and spew gases and dust into a glowing head that can be larger than a planet. This material forms a tail that stretches millions of miles.
In 1998, The NASA Near-Earth Object Program Office was established at JPL to coordinate NASA-sponsored efforts to detect, track and characterize potentially hazardous asteroids and comets that could approach the Earth.
Learn more about "great comets".
Event Type: Annual /Historic. Annual / Historic: Historic Anniversary.
Thursday, January 22, 2026.
For more info visit science.nasa.gov. Anniversary - Lottie Williams Becomes 1st Person to be Hit by Space Debris (1997)
Other
Lottie Williams was walking through a park around 4 a.m. when she saw what looked like a shooting star. A little while later, Williams felt a tap on her shoulder. When she turned around, there was no one there — but something fell to the ground. It was a small piece of burned mesh. An analysis later showed that it's most likely part of a returning Delta II rocket. "I think I was blessed that it doesn't weigh that much," says Williams, noting that larger pieces of this rocket fell elsewhere. "I mean, that was one of the weirdest things that ever happened to me." Read more here. Learn about orbital debris here and here.
Event Type: Annual /Historic.
Thursday, January 22, 2026.
NASA Day of Remembrance
Other
On the Day of Remembrance, NASA pays tribute to the crews of Apollo 1 and space shuttles Challenger and Columbia, as well as other members of the NASA family who lost their lives supporting NASA’s mission of exploration.
Event Type: Annual /Historic.
Thursday, January 22, 2026.
40th Anniversary (1986), Voyager 2, Uranus Flyby
Our Solar System
The primary mission of the twin Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft was the exploration of Jupiter and Saturn. After making a string of discoveries there — such as active volcanoes on Jupiter's moon Io and intricacies of Saturn's rings — the mission was extended. Voyager 2 went on to explore Uranus and Neptune, and is still the only spacecraft to have visited those outer planets. The adventurers' current mission, the Voyager Interstellar Mission (VIM), will explore the outermost edge of the Sun's domain. And beyond.
Read first hand accounts of the event here. (Don't miss the posters!)
Simulate the Uranus flyby in realtime here.
Event Type: Annual /Historic. Mission Event. Annual / Historic: Historic Anniversary. Mission Event Type: Flyby.
Saturday, January 24, 2026.
Anniversary - Voyager 2, Uranus Flyby (1986)
Our Solar System
The primary mission of the twin Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft was the exploration of Jupiter and Saturn. After making a string of discoveries there — such as active volcanoes on Jupiter's moon Io and intricacies of Saturn's rings — the mission was extended. Voyager 2 went on to explore Uranus and Neptune, and is still the only spacecraft to have visited those outer planets. The adventurers' current mission, the Voyager Interstellar Mission (VIM), will explore the outermost edge of the Sun's domain. And beyond.
Read first hand accounts of the event here. (Don't miss the posters of Voyager and Uranus!)
Simulate the Uranus flyby in real-time here.
Event Type: Annual /Historic. Mission Event. Annual / Historic: Historic Anniversary. Mission Event Type: Flyby.
Saturday, January 24, 2026.
For more info visit solarsystem.nasa.gov. Anniversary - Apollo 1 Fire (1967)
Human Spaceflight
Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee were killed in a fire in the Apollo Command Module during a preflight test at Cape Canaveral. They were training for the first crewed Apollo flight, an Earth orbiting mission scheduled to be launched on 21 February. Learn more.
Event Type: Annual /Historic. Annual / Historic: Historic Anniversary.
Tuesday, January 27, 2026.