Chinese archives extend the observational baseline

Voyager 1 began a mission designed to return images and measurements of distant giant planets.

Its record presented sounds and images from Earth to any future finders of the spacecraft.

The 5 September launch completed the pair’s departure for outer-planet exploration.

Researchers compared thousands of dated observations with modern orbital calculations to study long-term changes in Earth's rotation.

A mismatch between predicted and recorded eclipse paths reveals accumulated changes in the length of the day.

Chinese textual expertise and modern celestial mechanics together create evidence neither discipline could produce independently.

The telescope lifted off aboard space shuttle Discovery for an orbit above Earth’s atmosphere.

Hubble’s launch created a platform for observing the universe without most atmospheric distortion.

Hubble was designed so astronauts could later repair and upgrade it.

NASA and ESA contributed to the space telescope, whose deployment occurred the next day.