NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory team has released several 3D models of celestial onbjects that you can print. Credit: NASA/CXC/A. Hobart

On June 5, 2002, the space shuttle Endeavour launched on the STS-111 mission from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to the International Space Station. The launch was originally scheduled for May 30th, but was delayed first by bad...

On June 4, 2010, the first Falcon 9 rocket built by SpaceX blasted off from Cape Canaveral on its maiden voyage and reached orbit. Space Exploration Technologies, or Space X, was founded by billionaire Elon Musk, an internet entrepreneur...

On June 3, 1965, NASA astronaut Ed White became the first American to walk in space. White left the safety of his Gemini 4 spacecraft equipped with a spacesuit, a tether and a small gas gun for maneuvering. The spacewalk occurred just...

Data from the James Webb Space Telescope on exoplanet K2-18b has revealed the "strongest hints yet of biological activity outside the solar system," according to a University of Cambridge study. Credit: Space.com | animations:...

On June 2, 1966, NASA's Surveyor 1 landed on the lunar surface to become the first American spacecraft to land on the moon. Surveyor 1 took more than 11,000 photos of the moon along with other measurements, but, more importantly, proved...

On June 1, 2011, NASA's space shuttle Endeavor touched down safely for the final time at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida after spending 299 days in space throughout the course of its 25 flights. Endeavour was built as a replacement...

On May 31, 1990, the Soviet Union launched a new module to the Mir space station. The new component was named Kristall, and it was the third addition sent to Mir since the core module launched in 1986. Including the core module, Mir...

On May 30, 1975, the European Space Agency officially opened for business. The European Space Agency was created as a merger of the European Launcher Development Organization, or ELDO, and the European Space Research Organisation, ESRO....

NASA astronaut Don Pettit is scheduled to return to Earth from the International Space Station, completing his 4th mission to the orbital outpost. See some of the science he conducted and photography he captured. Credit: NASA

On May 28, 1959, two monkeys named Able and Baker became the first monkeys to go to space and make it back alive. Miss Able was a rhesus monkey from Kansas, and her crewmate Miss Baker was a squirrel monkey from Peru. They were tucked...

On May 29, 1919, a total solar eclipse helped to prove Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity. Einstein's theory suggested that gravity could bend light by curving the fabric of spacetime. To prove it, he thought it would be a...

On May 27, 2009, three astronauts launched to the International Space Station to complete the crew of Expedition 20. Expedition 20 was the first six-person crew to live and work at the space station for a long-duration stay. Russian...

Exoplanet 2M1510 (AB) b’s is an unusual polar orbit of a pair of brown dwarfs. Credit: ESO Directed by: Angelos Tsaousis and Martin Wallner. Editing: Angelos Tsaousis. Web and technical support: Raquel Yumi Shida and Edison Arango....

On May 26, 1983, the European Space Agency launched its first X-ray Observatory into space. The spacecraft was called EXOSAT, which stands for European X-ray Observatory SATellite. The mission was entirely devoted to studying the...

On May 25, 2008, NASA's Phoenix lander arrived on Mars. [‘On This Day in Space’ Phoenix was NASA's sixth mission to successfully land on Mars, and it was the first mission to touch down near the planet's north pole. The objective for...

On May 24, 1962, NASA astronaut Scott Carpenter became the fourth American to go to space and the second American to orbit the Earth. Carpenter was one of NASA’s first group of astronauts known as the "Mercury Seven.” He was the backup...

See Rocket Lab's "proposed mission architecture" for a Mars sample return mission in this animation. Credit: Rocket Lab

On May 23, 2017, NASA astronauts Peggy Whitson and Jack Fischer took an urgent and unplanned spacewalk to replace a broken data relay box outside of the International Space Station. The problematic device, known as a...

On May 22, 2012, SpaceX launched the first commercial flight to the International Space Station. The Dragon was the first American spacecraft to visit the space station since NASA ended the space shuttle program almost a year earlier....

On May 21, 2010, Japan launched the first solar sail into space. Solar sail technology uses light for spacecraft propulsion, but not in the same way that traditional solar panels do. While solar panels use light to generate electricity,...

On May 19, 2000, the space shuttle Atlantis launched with the very first "glass cockpit." This was one of several big upgrades that were made to the space shuttle before the mission STS-101. NASA called this new and improved version of...

On May 20, 1978, NASA launched a spacecraft to Venus. The mission was called Pioneer-Venus 1, but it’s also known as the Pioneer Venus Orbiter. This was the first of two spacecraft that made up the Pioneer Venus mission. Pioneer Venus 2...

NASA's Stereo Cameras for Lunar-Plume Surface Studies (SCALPSS) captured the landing of Firefly's Blue Ghost landing on the moon. Credit: NASA/Olivia Tyrrell | edited by Space.com