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November 30 in spaceflight

22 orbital launches flew on November 30, the earliest of them in 1960, and 20 reached orbit. Wikipedia records 4 spaceflight and astronomy events on November 30. Below are the pictures NASA published on November 30 in 5 different years — each one taken or released on this exact date.

DATE

Launches

ON RECORD

22MISSIONS

20 of them reached orbit. The earliest was 1960, the most recent 2025.

Recorded events

IN THE RECORD

4ENTRIES

Spaceflight and astronomy entries from Wikipedia's record of this date, oldest first — from 1954 onward.

Pictures from this date

PUBLISHED

5IMAGES

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day for November 30, one per year. Some are public domain and some belong to the photographer — each says which.

Published on November 30

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

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.

© Camille Niel — used with the credit NASA publishes

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.

© Robert Nemiroff — 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.

NASA · public domain

What happened on November 30

  1. 1954

    A meteorite crashed through a roof in Sylacauga, Alabama, and hit a sleeping woman in the first verified case of a human being injured by an extraterrestrial object.

    Sylacauga (meteorite) ↗
  2. 1954

    In Sylacauga, Alabama, United States, the Hodges meteorite crashes through a roof and hits a woman taking an afternoon nap; this is the only documented case in the Western Hemisphere of a human being hit by a rock from space.

    Sylacauga, Alabama ↗
  3. 2000

    NASA launches STS-97, the 101st Space Shuttle mission.

    STS-97 ↗
  4. 2007

    Atlasjet Flight 4203 crashes in Keçiborlu while on approach to Isparta Süleyman Demirel Airport, killing 57.

    Atlasjet Flight 4203 ↗

Every launch on November 30

22 launches

ONLINE
  1. 2025Long March 7A | Shijian 28CASCSUCCESS
  2. 2024Long March 12 | Maiden FlightCASCSUCCESS
  3. 2024Falcon 9 Block 5 | NROL-126SpXSUCCESS
  4. 2024Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 6-65SpXSUCCESS
  5. 2022Soyuz 2.1b | Kosmos 2565 (Lotos-S1 #7)VKSSUCCESS
  6. 2018Rokot / Briz-KM | 3 x Rodnik (Kosmos 2530, 2531, 2532)VKSSUCCESS
  7. 2016SpaceShipTwo | VSS Unity CC04VGSUCCESS
  8. 2014Soyuz-2.1b/Fregat | Glonass-K1 (Kosmos 2501)VKOSUCCESS
  9. 2009Zenit | Intelsat IS-15SLSUCCESS
  10. 2000Proton-K/DM-2M | Sirius FM-3KhSCSUCCESS
  11. 1989Soyuz U | Yantar-4K2 49CCCPSUCCESS
  12. 1988Soyuz U | Zenit-8 73CCCPSUCCESS
  13. 1983Proton-K/DM | Gorizont 8CCCPSUCCESS
  14. 1983Soyuz U | Yantar-4K1 12CCCPSUCCESS
  15. 1973Molniya-M | Molniya-1K 26CCCPSUCCESS
  16. 1973Soyuz | Kosmos 613CCCPSUCCESS
  17. 1972Kosmos 11K63 | DS-U1-IK 2CCCPSUCCESS
  18. 1971Kosmos-3M | Tselina-O 13CCCPSUCCESS
  19. 1970Atlas SLV-3C Centaur | OAO BUSAFFAILURE
  20. 1968Kosmos-3M | Sfera 3CCCPSUCCESS
  21. 1964Molniya 8K78 | Zond-2CCCPSUCCESS
  22. 1960Thor DM-21 Ablestar | Transit 3AUSAFFAILURE

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.