2012 in spaceflight
Encyclopedia
January
|-|colspan=7|
February
|-|colspan=7|
March
|-|colspan=7|
April
|-|colspan=7|
May
|-|colspan=7|
June
|-|colspan=7|
July
|-|colspan=7|
August
|-|colspan=7|
September
|-|colspan=7|
October
|-|colspan=7|
November
|-|colspan=7|
December
|-|}
Deep Space Rendezvous
| Date (UTC) | Spacecraft | Event | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| July | Dawn Dawn Mission Dawn is a NASA spacecraft tasked with the exploration and study of the two largest members of the asteroid belt – Vesta and the dwarf planet Ceres. The spacecraft was constructed with some European cooperation, with partners in Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands providing Dawns framing... |
Leaves Vestiocentric orbit 4 Vesta Vesta, formally designated 4 Vesta, is one of the largest asteroids, with a mean diameter of about . It was discovered by Heinrich Wilhelm Olbers on March 29, 1807, and is named after the Roman virgin goddess of home and hearth, Vesta.... |
Heading for Ceres |
| 6 August | Curiosity Mars Science Laboratory The Mars Science Laboratory is a National Aeronautics and Space Administration mission with the aim to land and operate a rover named Curiosity on the surface of Mars. The MSL was launched November 26, 2011, at 10:02 EST and is scheduled to land on Mars at Gale Crater between August 6 and 20, 2012... |
Landing on Mars Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance... , Gale Crater Gale (crater) Gale is a crater on Mars, near the border of the lowlands of Elysium Planitia at . It is 154 km in diameter and believed to be about 3.5 to 3.8 billion years old... |
Sky Crane landing system |