Anniversary - STS-92 (Space Shuttle Discovery) Launch (2000)
Human Spaceflight
Commander Brian Duffy, Pilot Pamela A. Melroy, Mission Specialists Koichi Wakata, Leroy Chiao, Peter J. K. Wisoff, Michael Lopez-Alegria and William S. McArthur. More info.
Event Type: Annual /Historic. Annual / Historic: Historic Anniversary.
Saturday, October 11, 2025.
For more info visit www.nasa.gov. Ada Lovelace Day
Other
Ada Lovelace Day (http://findingada.com/) is an international celebration day of the achievements of women in science, technology, engineering and math. It aims to increase the profile of women in STEM and, in doing so, create new role models who will encourage more girls into STEM careers and support women already working in STEM.
The Chandra mission featured Ms. Lovelace and other women in science ; download a poster of her here.
Event Type: Annual /Historic. Annual / Historic: Annual Event.
Tuesday, October 14, 2025.
Deadline: Design the Mission Patch for NASA’s Next HERA Campaign
Human Spaceflight
Did you know NASA simulates crewed space missions with the Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA)? HERA is a two-and-a-half story, 650-square-foot habitat at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. In 2026, four missions will take place inside HERA with crews of four volunteers who will live isolated and confined during 45-day simulated trips to the Moon. K-12 students at private and public schools in the U.S. are invited to design the patches for these upcoming missions. Winners will work with a Human Research Program graphic designer to turn their concept into a reality.
Event Type: Registration Deadline.
Wednesday, October 15, 2025.
For more info visit www.nasa.gov. Anniversary - STS-73 (Space Shuttle Columbia) Launch (1995)
Human Spaceflight
Commander Kenneth D. Bowersox, Pilot Kent V. Rominger, Payload Commander Kathryn C. Thornton, Mission Specialists Catherine G. Coleman, Michael E. Lopez-Alegria, Payload Specialists Fred W. Leslie and Albert Sacco, Jr. More info.
Event Type: Annual /Historic. Annual / Historic: Historic Anniversary.
Monday, October 20, 2025.
For more info visit www.nasa.gov. Anniversary - First Close Asteroid Pictures (1991)
Comets/Asteroids
This picture of asteroid 951 Gaspra is a mosaic of two images taken by the Galileo spacecraft from a range of 5,300 kilometers (3,300 miles), some 10 minutes before closest approach on October 29, 1991.
Event Type: Annual /Historic. Annual / Historic: Historic Anniversary. Mission Event Type: Flyby.
Wednesday, October 29, 2025.
For more info visit solarsystem.nasa.gov. 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.