Cosmonauts Titov and Strekalov narrowly escaped the Soyuz T-10 spacecraft explosion.
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NASA's NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft became the first space probe to land on an asteroid when it touched down on 433 Eros.
NASA's Atlantis Space Shuttle ferried the Magellan space probe into orbit.
The first commercial communications satellite is launched.
A giant ball of fire was seen arching across the sky from Michigan to Pennsylvania.
The Luna 2 spacecraft by the Soviet Union became the first human-made artifact to land on the moon's surface.
