Astronomy and Space Exploration
- March 10 – Rings of Uranus discovered by Kuiper Airborne Observatory measurements of star occultation.
- August 12 – The NASA Space Shuttle makes its first test free-flight from the back of a jetliner.
- August 20 – Voyager program: The United States launches the Voyager 2 spacecraft.
- September 5 – Voyager program: Voyager 1 is launched after a brief delay.
- 2060 Chiron, first of the outer solar system asteroids known as Centaurs, discovered by Charlie Kowal.
- Discovery of the Carina Dwarf galaxy by the UK Schmidt Telescope.
Read more about this topic: 1977 In Science
Famous quotes containing the words astronomy, space and/or exploration:
“Awareness of the stars and their light pervades the Koran, which reflects the brightness of the heavenly bodies in many verses. The blossoming of mathematics and astronomy was a natural consequence of this awareness. Understanding the cosmos and the movements of the stars means understanding the marvels created by Allah. There would be no persecuted Galileo in Islam, because Islam, unlike Christianity, did not force people to believe in a “fixed” heaven.”
—Fatima Mernissi, Moroccan sociologist. Islam and Democracy, ch. 9, Addison-Wesley Publishing Co. (Trans. 1992)
“Time in his little cinema of the heart
Giving a première to Hate and Pain;
And Space urbanely keeping us apart.”
—Philip Larkin (1922–1986)
“I call her old. She has one family
Whose claim is good to being settled here
Before the era of colonization,
And before that of exploration even.
John Smith remarked them as he coasted by....”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)