July 20, 1976: Landing on the red planet

#OTD in 2006…A star-spangled start to Discovery’s STS-121 mission

#OTD…In 2009, the final Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission launched

An international fleet of five Mars orbiters and two rovers will have ringside seats when a mountain-size comet streaks by on Oct. 19, passing within a scant 87,000 miles of the red planet at a blistering 126,000 mph.