Launches
ON RECORD11MISSIONS
10 of them reached orbit. The earliest was 1963, the most recent 2024.
ARCHIVE // DAY OF YEAR
May 9 in spaceflight
11 orbital launches flew on May 9, the earliest of them in 1963, and 10 reached orbit. Below are the pictures NASA published on May 9 in 5 different years — each one taken or released on this exact date.
Recorded events
NONE FOUND0ENTRIES
Wikipedia records no spaceflight or astronomy event on this date.
Pictures from this date
PUBLISHED5IMAGES
NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day for May 9, one per year. Some are public domain and some belong to the photographer — each says which.
Published on May 9
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
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
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
Every launch on May 9
11 launches
ONLINE
- 2024Long March 3B/E | ZHTW 1-01CASCSUCCESS
- 2022Long March 7 | Tianzhou-4CASCSUCCESS
- 2021Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink 27SpXSUCCESS
- 2003M-V | HayabusaISASSUCCESS
- 1998Titan IVB | NROL-6USAFSUCCESS
- 1994Scout G-1 | MSTI-2USAFSUCCESS
- 1990Scout G-1 | MACSAT 1 & 2USAFSUCCESS
- 1971Atlas SLV-3C Centaur | Mariner 8USAFFAILURE
- 1967Thorad SLV-2G Agena D | KH-4A 41USAFSUCCESS
- 1965Molniya 8K78 | Luna-5CCCPSUCCESS
- 1963Atlas Agena B | Midas 7USAFSUCCESS
FIELD KIT / LIBRARY
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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.
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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.
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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.