On June 5, 1819, British mathematician and astronomer John C. Adams was born in Cornwall. The first to predict the existence of Neptune, he wrote in his journal on July 3, 1841: “Formed a design in the beginning of this week of investigating, as soon as possible after taking my degree, the irregularities in theContinue reading "June 5, 1819: The birth of John C. Adams"

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The brainchild of George Ellery Hale, the 200-inch Hale Telescope was dedicated June 3, 1948, at Palomar Observatory in California. In promoting and fundraising for the project, Hale had a firm science agenda for the scope, but also wrote more fancifully of “the lure of the uncharted seas of space”; though he died in 1938,Continue reading "June 3, 1948: Hale Telescope dedicated"

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About 63 hours after its launch, Surveyor 1 landed on the Moon on June 2, 1966. The 2,200-pound (998 kilograms) craft touched down inside a 62-mile (100 kilometers) crater north of Flamsteed Crater in Oceanus Procellarum, or the Ocean of Storms. Surveyor 1 took more than 11,000 photos, and measured the Moon’s temperature and theContinue reading "June 2, 1966: Surveyor 1 lands on the Moon"

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In the 1870s, real-estate mogul James Lick established a trust of $700,000 (around $1.2 billion today) for the purpose of constructing the world’s most powerful telescope. By August 1875, he had selected the peak of Mount Hamilton, near San Jose, California, as his site, taking advantage of the clear air at the high elevation. ConstructionContinue reading "June 1, 1888: Lick Observatory changes hands"

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In the 1960s, two organizations were formed for cooperation around a European presence in space: the European Space Research Organization, which focused on scientific research, and the European Launcher Development Organization, which concentrated on engineering launch systems. By the end of the decade, however, dissatisfaction was growing with this split structure, and in 1968, theContinue reading "May 31, 1975: ESA begins operations"

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Harry Clement Stubbs – perhaps better known by his penname, Hal Clement – was born near Boston on May 30, 1922. Stubbs earned a B.S. in astronomy from Harvard University in 1943, followed by master’s degrees in chemistry and education. After military service in the Army Air Corps in World War II, he began workContinue reading "May 30, 1922: The birth of Harry Clement Stubbs"

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