1965 in science
The year 1965 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below. Astronomy and space exploration February 20 – Ranger 8 crashes into the Moon after a successful mission of photographing possible landing sites for the Apollo program astronauts. March 23 – NASA launches Gemini 3, the United States' first two-person space flight (crew: Gus Grissom and John Young). August 21 – NASA launches Gemini 5 (Gordon Cooper, Pete Conrad) on the first 1-week space flight, as well as the first test of fuel cells for electrical power on such a mission. November 16 – Venera program: The Soviet Union launches the Venera 3 space probe from Baikonur, Kazakhstan toward Venus. (On March 1, 1966, it becomes the first spacecraft to reach the surface of another planet). November 26 – At the Hammaguira launch facility in the Sahara Desert, France launches a Diamant-A rocket with its first satellite, Astérix-1 on board, becoming the third country to enter space. Discovery of NML Cygni, a red hypergiant and the largest star known, at about 1,650 times the Sun's radius. Biology February 4 – Trofim Lysenko is removed from his post as director of the Institute of Genetics at the Academy of