August 11th in Astronomy and Space Science
![]() | 1877 | American astronomer Asaph Hall discovers Mars' smaller moon Deimos while observing Mars at the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington D.C. He would find the larger moon, Phobos, six nights later. |
![]() | 1962 | USSR launches the Vostok 3 spacecraft with cosmonaut Andrian Nikolayev. Pavel Popovich is launched the next day in Vostok 4. The two craft approach within 3 miles of each other, but the rendezvous is due entirely to launch trajectory, as neither spacecraft is able to maneuver in orbit. |