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...

On May 18, 1969, Apollo 10 launched on a mission to the moon. Apollo 10 was considered a "dress rehearsal" for a lunar landing. It did everything the same as a real lunar landing mission, except for the part where the lander actually...

On May 16, 2011, the space shuttle Endeavour launched on its 25th and final flight. This was also the penultimate mission of the entire shuttle program. Five NASA astronauts and one Italian astronaut made up the STS-134 crew. They...

On May 15, 1963, NASA astronaut Gordon Cooper launched on the sixth and final crewed flight of the Mercury Program. This was also the last time a NASA astronaut launched on a solo mission to space. Cooper lifted off from Cape Canaveral...

On May 14, 1973, NASA launched Skylab, the first American space station. Skylab orbited Earth for six years and supported three crewed missions during which astronauts conducted hundreds of science experiments. Skylab was considered a...

On May 13, 1964, NASA launched the second abort test of the Apollo spacecraft. This uncrewed mission would demonstrate that the launch escape system could safely eject the Apollo command module in case of an emergency. For the first...

On May 12, 2000, two Russian cosmonauts embarked on the 80th and final spacewalk at the Mir space station. This was also the first commercially financed spacewalk. A private company called Mircorp paid to launch two cosmonauts, Sergei...

On May 10, 1967, a NASA research aircraft known as the wingless M2-F2 lifting body crashed on Rogers Dry Lakebed at the Dryden Flight Research Center in California. The test pilot, Bruce Peterson, was severely injured, but he survived,...

On May 9, 2003, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency launched the first-ever asteroid sample return mission, Hayabusa. This was also the first mission to land on an asteroid. Hayabusa would spend about two years chasing down a...

On May 8, 1962, NASA's new Centaur rocket exploded in mid-air during its first test flight. The Centaur was an upper stage specially designed to launch heavier payloads into orbit. For its first launch, it flew on an Atlas rocket...

On April 26, 1962, Britain launched its first satellite, Ariel 1. This made the United Kingdom the third country to have a satellite in orbit after the U.S. and the Soviet Union — but they didn't launch it themselves. Ariel 1 launched on...

On April 27, 1961, NASA launched Explorer 11, a satellite that contained the first gamma ray telescope to go to space. This marked the birth of space-based gamma ray astronomy. Gamma rays are a form of electromagnetic radiation and have...

On April 25, 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope was deployed! Hubble is famous for taking some of the most amazing deep-space photos ever. It hitched a ride to space on the space shuttle Discovery with mission STS-31. Also on board were...

On April 24, 1970, China became the fifth nation to independently launch a satellite into orbit. Dong Fang Hong I was the first of a series of satellites China launched under the Dong Fang Hong space satellite program. It lifted off on a...

On April 23, 1962, NASA launched the Ranger 4 mission to the moon. After the first three Ranger missions failed, NASA was really happy with the successful launch of Ranger 4. But the fun didn't last long. After a picture-perfect launch...

On April 22, 2010, the U.S. Air Force launched the super-secret X-37B space plane on its first spaceflight. [ This space plane is also known as the Orbital Test Vehicle. It looks a lot like NASA's space shuttle, only it's much smaller...

On April 18, 2014, NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer, also known as LADEE, ended its mission by crashing into the moon. LADEE had spent seven months orbiting the moon and studying its exosphere. The exosphere is a...

Welcome on the FRAME channel. Today let's talk about the fascinating world of producing pencils, a technology still massively used today despite being several centuries old.

On April 17, 1970, Apollo 13 returned to Earth after narrowly avoiding a deadly disaster in space. This was supposed to be the third mission to land on the moon. Astronauts Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert and Fred Haise launched on April 11 and...

On April 16, 1972, Apollo 16 launched to the moon! Apollo 16 was NASA's fifth lunar landing and the penultimate mission of the entire Apollo program. Three NASA astronauts were on board: John Young, the commander, Ken Mattingly, the...