OTD: In 1961, Sputnik 9 was launched. Sitting atop a Vostok-K carrier rocket, it maintained a crew of a mannequin nicknamed Ivan Ivanovich, a dog named Chernushka, some mice and a guinea pig. It was successfully placed into low Earth orbit, completed a single orbit, and reentered on its first pass over the Soviet Union. During descent, the mannequin was ejected from the spacecraft in a test of its ejection seat, and descended separately under its own parachute. Chernushka was recovered unharmed inside the capsule. __________ In 1986, Vega 2 made it's closest approach to Halley's Comet at 8,030 km (4,990 mi). The data intensive examination of the comet covered only the three hours around closest approach. They were intended to measure the physical parameters of the nucleus, such as dimensions, shape, temperature and surface properties, as well as to study the structure and dynamics of the coma, the gas composition close to the nucleus, the dust particles' composition and mass distribution as functions of distance to the nucleus and the cometary-solar wind interaction. During the encounter, Vega 2 took 700 images of the comet, with better resolution than those from the twin Vega 1, partly due to the presence of less dust outside the coma at the time. Yet Vega 2 recorded an 80% power loss during the encounter as compared to Vega 1's 40%. After further imaging sessions on 10 and 11 March 1986, Vega 2 finished its primary mission. Vega 2 is currently in heliocentric orbit. __________ #OTD #Sputnik9 #Vega2 #KuiperKatsAstronomy #AmateurAstronomy #CitizenScience #ScienceEducation #Astronomy #SolarSystem #WomenInSTEM #WomenWhoScience #AstronomyInNYC #NYCAstronomy #AstroOutreach #Astrogram #CelestronTelescopes #NYC