1969 in science - Definition

The year 1969 in science and technology

Astronomy and space exploration

• January 15 - The Soviet Union launches Soyuz 5
• March 3 - Apollo program: NASA launches Apollo 9 to test the lunar module
• March 13 - Apollo program: Apollo 9 returns safely to Earth after testing the Lunar Module
• May 16 - Venera program: Venera 5, a Soviet spaceprobe, lands on Venus
• May 17 - Venera program: Soviet Venera 6 begins to descend into Venus', atmosphere sending back atmospheric data before being crushed by pressure
• May 18 - Apollo program: Apollo 10 launches
• May 22 - Apollo program: Apollo 10's lunar module flies within 15,400 m of the Moon's surface
• May 26 - Apollo program: Apollo 10 returns to Earth after a successful eight-day test of all the components needed for the upcoming first manned Moon landing
• July 20 - Apollo program: The human race, represented by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, lands on the Moon. Apollo 11 lifted off for the Moon on July 16 and returned safely on July 24
• August 5 - Mariner program: Mariner 7 makes its closest fly-by of Mars (3,524 kilometers)
• November 14 - Apollo program: NASA launches Apollo 12, the second manned mission to the surface of the Moon (landed on the Moon on November 19)
• November 19 - Apollo program: Apollo 12 astronauts Charles Conrad and Alan Bean land at Oceanus Procellarum ("Ocean of Storms") and become the third and fourth humans to walk on the Moon

Computer science

• November 21 - The first ARPANET link is established

Medicine

• April 4 - Dr. Denton Cooley implants the first temporary artificial heart

Meteorology

• Herbert Saffir and Bob Simpson develop the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale.

Awards

• Nobel Prizes
  • Physics - Murray Gell-Mann
  • Chemistry - Derek Harold Richard Barton, Odd Hassel
  • Medicine - Max Delbrück, Alfred D. Hershey, Salvador Luria
• Turing Award - Marvin Minsky

Births

• December 28 - Linus Torvalds, programmer

Deaths

• August 17 - Otto Stern (b. 1888), physicist, Nobellaurette in Physics in 1943.
• October 21 - Waclaw Sierpinski (b. 1882), Polish mathematician.