Today is the anniversary of The Day the Earth Smiled, the 3rd-ever image of Earth from the outer solar system, taken by the great Cassini spacecraft on July 19, 2013.

On February 20, 1962, John Glenn became the 1st American to orbit Earth and the first American space hero.

Voyager 2 swept closest to Uranus on this day 34 years ago. During its visit, the spacecraft sent data that revealed 2 new planetary rings, 10 new moons, radiation belts, and a very unusual magnetic field.

On October 6, 1995, astronomers Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz announced the momentous discovery of the 1st planet in orbit around a distant sunlike star. 51 Pegasi b has about half the mass of Jupiter. It orbits a star not unlike our sun.

Pioneer 11 was the first spacecraft ever to encounter Saturn. A true pioneer, it paved the way for 2 more sophisticated missions – the 2 Voyagers in 1980 and ’81 – and Cassini from 2004 to 2017.

The small, fast-moving New Horizons spacecraft is likely to be the only Pluto mission in the lifetimes of many of us. It changed forever the way we on Earth perceive this outermost world and its moons.