Radiation from an explosion on the magnetar SGR 1806-20 reached Earth.
At just 0.010AU from Earth, 4179 Toutatis became the closest asteroid to Earth in the last century.
Mars made its closest approach to Earth in nearly 60,000 years.
A large explosion above the Pacific Ocean turned out to be a meteorite.
Pale Blue Dot, an iconic photo of our Earth, was taken by Voyager 1 space probe.
The US spacecraft, Voyager, took the first-ever photograph of the moon and Earth together from space.
NASA's Explorer 49 was launched into Earth's orbit to research long-range radio waves within the Milky Way.
The last manned lunar flight, Apollo 17, returned to Earth.
Twenty million Americans mobilized to call for greater protections for our planet. This became the world's first Earth Day.
The first-ever photograph was taken of the Earth from the surface of the Moon.
Scott Carpenter orbited the Earth three times in the US Aurora 7.
John Glenn became the first American to orbit planet Earth.
NASA's Explorer 6 satellite launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
A V-2 rocket captured the first photograph of Earth from outer space.
Mars had a 'close encounter' with Earth at 34.8 million miles apart.
French mathematician Pierre Louis Maupertuis began his journey to Lapland to plot the shape of the Earth.
Using Johannes Kepler's predictions, French scientist Pierre Gassendi became the first person to witness Mercury's transit between the Earth and the Sun.
Halley's Comet made its closest approach to Earth in recorded history.
