Nasa SpaceLink:
KEY DATES NOVEMBER 1991


                        November 1991 Key Dates


Nov    1   Chiron, farthest known asteroid, discovered (1977).
           Fusion occurred for the first time on Earth (1952).
           National Weather Service founded (1870).

       2   H. Hughes' "Spruce Goose" made first and only flight
           (1947). Harlow Shapley, astronomer, born (1885).

       3   Alabama woman bruised by a meteor (1955). Great panic
           in Europe over close approach of a comet (1679).
           Sputnik 2 launched with a dog on board (1957).

       4   David Todd of the U.S. Navel Observatory conducts
           first search for a planet beyond Neptune (1877).

       5   First photograph showing one full side of the Earth
           (1967). An iceberg twice the size of Rhode Island is
           sighted in the Antarctic (1987).

       6   Supernova observed in Cassiopeia (1572).  John Alcock,
           pioneer aviator, born (1892). Wolfgang Schuler observes
           a nova (1572). Next transit of Mercury (1993).  Full
           Earth.

       7   First observance of a transit of Mercury (1631). Marie
           Curie, discoverer of Ra (radium), born (1867).
           "Galloping Gertie". the Tacoma Narrows bridge,
           collapses (1940).

       8   Edmond Halley born (1656). First mom in space
           (Anna Fisher, 1984).

       9   Benjamin Banneker born (1731). First airplane flight
           to last more than 5 min (1904). Northeast blackout
           triggered by a thunderstorm (1965). Apollo 4, first
           test of Saturn 5 unmanned rocket (1967). America's
           longest drought (767 days) ends in Bagdad, CA (1914).

      10   The Edmund Fitzgerald sank (1975). Transit of Earth
           as seen from Mars (2084). Plan ahead.

      11   Explorer 2 balloon set altitude record of 72,000 ft
           over SD; made first photograph showing curvature of
           Earth (1935). Blizzard struck midwest (1940). Before
           it was done, 154 lives were lost, 69 aboard ships in
           Lake Michigan alone. How has weather forecasting
           changed since then?

      12   Voyager 1 closest to Saturn (1980). In 57 days,
           James Lloyd recreated Calbraith Rogers' 1911 flight
           (1986). First movie stunt-man jumps from an exploding
           balloon into the Hudson River (1912).

      13   First manmade object to orbit another planet. (Mariner
           9, Mars, 1971). James Maxwell born (1831). What was he
           known for? First manmade snow from a cloud (1946).

      14   Charles Lyell, geologist, born (1797). Apollo 12 hit by
           lightning upon takeoff (1969). Nasa Teacher Resource
           Center opens in Australia (1988). First time a comet
           is discovered via telescope (1680).

      15   William Herschel born (1738). Today's 8th graders are
           half done with their formal education.

      16   Last visit to Skylab (1973). First international
           interstellar radio message sent by Arecibo Observatory
           (1974). Collapse of radar telescope in West Virginia
           (1988). Oldest, verified account of a meteorite
           (Switzerland, 1492).

      17   Leonids meteor shower peak. In 1966, 150,000 meteors
           per hour were observed. Surveyor 6 flies 8 ft, first
           liftoff from the surface of the Moon. (1967) First
           commercial rocket launched (1988).

      18   Adoption of the uniform time zone plan (1883). Alan
           Shepard's birthday. New England rocked by earthquake
           (1755). Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) launched
           (1989).

      19   Apollo 12 landed on the Moon (1969). The 200-in.
           mirror arrived at Mt. Palomar (1947).

      20   First time an airplane exceeded 1300 mph (Scott
           Crossfield, 1953). Edwin Hubble born (1889). Otto
           von Guericke born (1602). First person to invent
           nothing-the vacuum!

      21   First human flight in a balloon (1783). First
           commercial crossing of the Pacific by plane, the
           China Clipper (1935). First flight of the Concorde-
           London to New York (1977). Full Moon.

      22   It is illegal to remove icicles from a structure
           by discharging a firearm in Woonsocket, RI. SOS
           adopted as the international distress code (1911).

      23   Self-Awareness Day. Time to assess what you are Tiros
           II, weather satellite, launched (1960).

      24   Apollo 12 splashdown (1969). First observation of a
           transit of Vensus (1639). Only two people reported
           they saw it.

      25   First Soviet liquid-fueled rocket flew 240 ft (1933).
           Viking radio signal from Mars helps test theory of
           relativity (1976).

      26   France became the third nation to enter the Space Age
           (1965).

      27   Earliest meteor photo taken (1885). Anders Celsius,
           Swedish astronomer and chemist, born (1701).

      28   Richard Byrd began flight over the SOuth Pole (1929).
           Huygens records first markings on Mars (1659).

      29   Christian Doppler, Austrian physicist, born (1803).
           Enos the chimp becomes the first American to orbit the
           Earth (1961). Veranique Le Guen ends 110-day cave
           study (1988).

      30   Predict the Future Day. Take a guess at the year 2001,
           when today's 6th graders will graduate from college.