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February 12 in spaceflight

24 orbital launches flew on February 12, the earliest of them in 1961, and 22 reached orbit. Wikipedia records 4 spaceflight and astronomy events on February 12. Below are the pictures NASA published on February 12 in 6 different years — each one taken or released on this exact date.

DATE

Launches

ON RECORD

24MISSIONS

22 of them reached orbit. The earliest was 1961, the most recent 2026.

Recorded events

IN THE RECORD

4ENTRIES

Spaceflight and astronomy entries from Wikipedia's record of this date, oldest first — from 1947 onward.

Pictures from this date

PUBLISHED

6IMAGES

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day for February 12, one per year. Some are public domain and some belong to the photographer — each says which.

Published on February 12

NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day, for this calendar date in each of the last several years.

NASA Science

2026

NASA Science

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

© Olaf Filzinger — used with the credit NASA publishes

NASA Science

2025

NASA Science

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

NASA · public domain

NASA Science

2024

NASA Science

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

NASA · public domain

NASA Science

2023

NASA Science

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

NASA · public domain

NASA Science

2022

NASA Science

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

© Clear Skies — used with the credit NASA publishes

NASA Science

2021

NASA Science

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

© Mike Selby — used with the credit NASA publishes

What happened on February 12

  1. 1947

    The largest observed iron meteorite until that time creates an impact crater in Sikhote-Alin, in the Soviet Union.

    Sikhote-Alin meteorite ↗

  2. 1961

    The Soviet Union launches Venera 1 towards Venus.

    Venera 1 ↗

  3. 2001

    The NASA space probe NEAR Shoemaker touched down on Eros, becoming the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid.

    NASA ↗

  4. 2001

    NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft touches down in the "saddle" region of 433 Eros, becoming the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid.

    NEAR Shoemaker ↗

Every launch on February 12

24 launches

ONLINE
  1. 2026Ariane 64 | Amazon Leo (LE-01)ASASUCCESS
  2. 2026Vulcan VC4S | USSF-87ULASUCCESS
  3. 2026Proton-M/Blok DM-03 | Elektro-L No.5KhSCSUCCESS
  4. 2026Smart Dragon 3 | PRSC-EO2 & 6 satellitesCHNRSUCCESS
  5. 2023Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 5-4SpXSUCCESS
  6. 2018Long March 3B / YZ-1 | Beidou-3 M3 & M4CASCSUCCESS
  7. 2010Proton-M / Briz-M Enhanced | Intelsat 16ILSSUCCESS
  8. 2009Ariane 5 ECA | Hot Bird 10, NSS-9, Spirale A, Spirale BASASUCCESS
  9. 2005Ariane 5 ECA | XTAR-EUR, Maqsat-B2, SloshsatASASUCCESS
  10. 2000Proton-K/DM-2M | Garuda 1KhSCSUCCESS
  11. 1997M-V | HarukaISASSUCCESS
  12. 1994Tsiklon-3 | Strela-3 101 to 106VKSSUCCESS
  13. 1991Kosmos-3M | Strela-1M 353-360CCCPSUCCESS
  14. 1987Titan 34B | Quasar 7USAFSUCCESS
  15. 1986N-2 | Yuri 2BNASDASUCCESS
  16. 1981Kosmos-3M | Parus 26CCCPSUCCESS
  17. 1980Molniya-M | US-K 13CCCPFAILURE
  18. 1979Tsiklon-3 | Okean-E 1CCCPSUCCESS
  19. 1976Kosmos-3M | DS-P1-M 8CCCPSUCCESS
  20. 1975Voskhod | Zenit-4MK 36CCCPSUCCESS
  21. 1975Kosmos-3M | Sfera 13CCCPSUCCESS
  22. 1974Voskhod | Zenit-4M 60CCCPSUCCESS
  23. 1965Kosmos-2I 63S1 | DS-P1-Yu 2CCCPFAILURE
  24. 1961Molniya 8K78 | Venera-1VA 2CCCPSUCCESS

FIELD KIT / LIBRARY

SPONSORED

General-audience astronomy and spaceflight — none of it a textbook.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Links here cost you nothing extra.

  • LISTING

    Cosmos — Carl Sagan

    Still the best single argument for why any of this matters, and it leaves the arithmetic in. For a reader who wants the science, not just the awe.

    VIEW

  • LISTING

    Pale Blue Dot — Carl Sagan

    The case for leaving Earth, written by someone unsentimental about how hard that is. Suits readers who want the argument rather than the poster.

    VIEW

  • LISTING

    Project Hail Mary — Andy Weir

    Hard-SF problem solving in The Martian's key — for anyone who liked the engineering more than the peril. The only novel on this list.

    VIEW

BROWSE opens an Amazon search, not a specific recommendation.

LINKS AMAZON.COM

Sources and licences

Event text and thumbnails come from Wikipedia and are used under CC BY-SA 4.0. Images are drawn only from Wikimedia Commons, which does not accept non-free content — each thumbnail links to its file page, where its licence and author are recorded.

Launch records are from The Space Devs’ Launch Library 2. Pictures are NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day; NASA imagery is generally not subject to copyright, but individual APOD entries are frequently the property of the photographer, and each caption says which applies.