The Delta Aquariids Meteor Shower Has Two Branches

Katherine Johnson, an African American mathematician at NASA, computed the orbital mechanics for multiple critical missions including the first American crewed spaceflight (Alan Shepard, 1961), John Glenn's orbital mission (1962), and the Apollo 11 Moon landing (1969). Glenn famously refused to fly unless Johnson personally verified the computer's trajectory calculations. She worked at NASA for 33 years and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015. Her story was told in the film Hidden Figures (2016).

On June 16, 1963, Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova launched aboard Vostok 6, becoming the first woman — and at 26, the youngest woman — to fly in space. She orbited Earth 48 times over three days, logging more time in space than all American astronauts combined at that point. A textile worker and amateur parachutist before her selection, she remains the only woman to have completed a solo space mission.

The Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA), located in Chile's Atacama Desert at 5,000 meters altitude, is the world's most powerful radio telescope. Chile hosts about 40% of the world's astronomical infrastructure because its high-altitude, low-humidity, pollution-free skies are ideal for stargazing. Future telescopes including the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) are also being built in Chile.

The clear, dry skies of the Atacama Desert, coupled with high altitudes and minimal light pollution, create ideal conditions for stargazing. This makes Chile a global hub for ground-based astronomy, attracting major international observatories.