Launches
ON RECORD9MISSIONS
9 of them reached orbit. The earliest was 1967, the most recent 2026.
ARCHIVE // DAY OF YEAR
March 8 in spaceflight
9 orbital launches flew on March 8, the earliest of them in 1967, and 9 reached orbit. Wikipedia records 4 spaceflight and astronomy events on March 8. Below are the pictures NASA published on March 8 in 6 different years — each one taken or released on this exact date.
Recorded events
IN THE RECORD4ENTRIES
Spaceflight and astronomy entries from Wikipedia's record of this date, oldest first — from 1978 onward.
Pictures from this date
PUBLISHED6IMAGES
NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day for March 8, one per year. Some are public domain and some belong to the photographer — each says which.
Published on March 8
NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day, for this calendar date in each of the last several years.
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.
NASA · public domain
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
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.
© Robert Gendler — used with the credit NASA publishes
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
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.
NASA · public domain
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.
NASA · public domain
What happened on March 8
1978
BBC Radio 4 began broadcasting Douglas Adams's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a science fiction radio series that was later adapted into novels, a television series, and other formats.
BBC Radio 4 ↗1979
Images taken by Voyager 1 proved the existence of volcanoes on Io (pictured), a moon of Jupiter.
Voyager 1 ↗2001
Space Shuttle Discovery launches on STS-102, carrying the Expedition 2 crew to the International Space Station.
Space Shuttle Discovery ↗
Every launch on March 8
9 launches
ONLINE
- 2026Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 17-18SpXSUCCESS
- 2022Qased | Noor-2IRGCAFSUCCESS
- 2002Atlas IIA | TDRS 9LMTSUCCESS
- 2001Ariane 5 G | Eutelsat 28A & BSAT-2aASASUCCESS
- 2001Space Shuttle Discovery / OV-103 | STS-102USASUCCESS
- 1997Atlas IIA | Tempo 2LMTSUCCESS
- 1991Delta 6925 | INMARSAT II F-2USAFSUCCESS
- 1991Titan 403A | Onyx 2USAFSUCCESS
- 1967Thor Delta C | OSO 3USAFSUCCESS
FIELD KIT / LIBRARY
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General-audience astronomy and spaceflight — none of it a textbook.
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- VIEW
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.
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.