1986 in science - Definition and Overview

The year 1986 in science and technology observed many events, some of which are included in the list below.

Astronomy and space exploration

• January 24 - Voyager 2 space probe makes first encounter with Uranus
• January 28 - Space Shuttle Challenger explodes on launch, killing all seven astronauts aboard.
• February 19 - The Soviet Union launches the Mir space station
• March 8 - Japanese spacecraft Suisei flies by Halley's Comet, studying its UV hydrogen corona and solar wind.

Computer science

• April 3 - IBM unveils the PC Convertible, the first laptop computer.

Awards

• Nobel Prizes
  • Physics - Ernst Ruska, Gerd Binnig, Heinrich Rohrer
  • Chemistry - Dudley R. Herschbach, Yuan T. Lee, John C. Polanyi
  • Medicine - Stanley Cohen, Rita Levi-Montalcini
• Turing Award - John Hopcroft, Robert Tarjan
• Wollaston Medal for Geology - Claude Jean Allègre

Births

Deaths

• January 28 - Crew of Space Shuttle Challenger mission STS-51-L:
  • Francis R. Scobee (b. 1939)
  • Michael J. Smith (b. 1945)
  • Judith Resnik (b. 1949)
  • Ellison Onizuka (b. 1946)
  • Ronald McNair (b. 1950)
  • Greg Jarvis (b. 1944)
  • Christa McAuliffe (b. 1948)