This Week in Astronomy History | December 8 – 14
December 8, 1908: 60-inch telescope at Mt. Wilson sees first light
On December 8, 1908, the 60-inch Hale Telescope at Mt. Wilson Observatory saw its “first light,” meaning that it was used for the first time.
Constructing the telescope was a difficult and time-consuming task — it took two years to grind and polish the telescope’s mirror, and its mount and structure were nearly destroyed in San Francisco’s 1906 earthquake.
The telescope was at last completed in 1908, and saw first light on the evening of December 8th. At the time of its completion, the 60-inch Telescope was the largest functional telescope in the world. It would be surpassed by the 100-inch Hooker Telescope 9 years later.
December 11, 1972: Apollo 17 lands on Moon
Apollo 17 was the eleventh and final mission of NASA’s Apollo Program, as well as the sixth and most recent time that humans have walked on the Moon.
The mission’s crew included Module Pilot and professional geologist Harrison Schmitt, the first astronaut-scientist to land on the Moon. The mission’s heavy emphasis on science meant the inclusion of a number of experiments, including a biological experiment containing five mice named Fe, Fi, Fo, and Phooey.
December 14, 1962: Mariner 2 flies by Venus
Mariner 2 became the first successful mission to another planet when it flew by Venus on December 14, 1962. The spacecraft made a number of discoveries about the planet and marked another first by measuring the solar wind, a constant stream of charged particles flying outward from the Sun.
