Astronomy and Space Exploration
- March 14 - Jodrell Bank Observatory in England makes radio contact with the U.S. Pioneer 5 probe over a distance of 407,000 miles (655,000 km).
- April–July - Cornell University astronomer Frank Drake begins searching for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence with Project Ozma at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory at Green Bank, West Virginia.
- April 13 - The United States launches navigation satellite Transit I-b.
- May 15 - Sputnik program: The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 4 into Earth orbit.
- June 3 - British-born American theoretical physicist Freeman Dyson proposes the idea of Dyson spheres.
- August 12 - First experimental Project Echo passive communications satellite goes into orbit.
- August 19 - Sputnik program: The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 5 with the dogs Belka and Strelka, forty mice, two rats and a variety of plants. The spacecraft will return to earth the next day and all animals will be recovered safely.
- Dutch mathematician Hans Freudenthal invents the artificial language Lincos, intended for communication with extraterrestrial intelligence.
Read more about this topic: 1960 In Science
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