This page is about the year 2014 in astronomy.

Eclipses

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Two solar and two lunar eclipses take place in 2014 as follows.

Spaceflight

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Events

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January

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February

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March

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April

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June

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July

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August

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  • The International Cometary Explorer, a 1978 NASA solar probe that was repurposed for a mission to explore comets, approaches Earth for the first time in decades. On May 29, contact was made with the spacecraft in an attempt to repurpose it for a new mission. However, in July, thrusters failed to complete the desired orbit maneuvers, though plans were made for other possible scientific data collection. Ultimately, though, contact was lost on September 16 and it is unknown if it can be brought back to life. Should it ever be returned to Earth intact, it has already been donated to the Smithsonian Institution. [2]
  • August 25NASA's New Horizons spacecraft crosses the orbit of Neptune after travelling for over eight years. New Horizons is scheduled to reach its mission target, Pluto, in 2015. Neptune is the fifth planetary orbit the spacecraft has crossed.

September

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October

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November

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December

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ K.S. Jayaraman (28 June 2013). "NASA's Deep Space Network to Support India's Mars Mission". Space.com. Retrieved 2013-06-30.
  2. ^ "International Sun-Earth Explorer 3 - International Cometary Explorer". Retrieved 17 January 2014.
  3. ^ David, Leonard (2 March 2012). "Japan Eyes New Space Mission to Sample an Asteroid". Space.com. Retrieved 8 March 2014.