Launches
ON RECORD21MISSIONS
20 of them succeeded. The earliest was in 1967 and the latest in 2026.
MARKED ON THIS DATE
1984 · 42 years ago today
The first untethered spacewalk
Bruce McCandless flew a nitrogen-powered backpack away from Challenger and became the first human to move in orbit unattached to anything.
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ARCHIVE // DAY OF YEAR
February 7 in spaceflight
21 launches flew on February 7, the earliest of them in 1967, and 20 of them succeeded. Wikipedia lists 5 spaceflight and astronomy events on February 7. Pick another date to see what happened on it.
Recorded events
IN THE RECORD5ENTRIES
Spaceflight and astronomy entries from Wikipedia for this date, oldest first, starting in 1979.
Pictures from this date
NONE0IMAGES
There's no Astronomy Picture of the Day we can show for this date.
What happened on February 7
1984
During the Space Shuttle Challenger mission STS-41-B, astronauts Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart performed the first untethered spacewalk (pictured).
Space Shuttle Challenger ↗1984
Space Shuttle program: STS-41-B Mission: astronauts Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart make the first untethered space walk using the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU).
Space Shuttle program ↗2001
Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on mission STS-98, carrying the Destiny laboratory module to the International Space Station.
Space Shuttle Atlantis ↗2016
North Korea launches Kwangmyŏngsŏng-4 into outer space violating multiple UN treaties and prompting condemnation from around the world.
Kwangmyŏngsŏng-4 ↗
Launches on February 7Archive read 2026-11-05. Anything after that isn't listed here.
21 launches
ONLINE
- 2026Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 17-33SpXSUCCESS
- 2026Long March 2F/G | Chinese Reusable Space VehicleCASCSUCCESS
- 2023Falcon 9 Block 5 | Amazonas NexusSpXSUCCESS
- 2016Unha | Kwangmyongsong-4NADASUCCESS
- 2016Soyuz-2.1b/Fregat | Glonass-M (Kosmos 2514)VKSSUCCESS
- 2013Ariane 5 ECA | Azerspace-1/Africasat-1a & Amazonas 3ASASUCCESS
- 2008Space Shuttle Atlantis / OV-104 | STS-122USASUCCESS
- 2001Space Shuttle Atlantis / OV-104 | STS-98USASUCCESS
- 2001Ariane 44L | SICRAL 1ASASUCCESS
- 1999Delta 7426-9.5 | StardustUSAFSUCCESS
- 1994Titan 401A Centaur | Milstar 1USAFSUCCESS
- 1991Soyuz U | Yantar-4K2 57CCCPSUCCESS
- 1990H-1 | Momo 1bMHISUCCESS
- 1987Soyuz U | Zenit-8 43CCCPSUCCESS
- 1986Soyuz U | Yantar-4KS1 4CCCPSUCCESS
- 1980Titan IIID | KH-11 3USAFSUCCESS
- 1980Soyuz U | Zenit-6U 16CCCPSUCCESS
- 1977Soyuz-U | Soyuz 24CCCPSUCCESS
- 1969Kosmos 11K63 | DS-P1-Yu 18CCCPSUCCESS
- 1968Molniya-M | Ye-6LS 112CCCPFAILURE
- 1967Soyuz | Kosmos 140CCCPSUCCESS
FIELD KIT / LIBRARY
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Astronomy and spaceflight books for a general reader. No textbooks.
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- VIEW
LISTING
Cosmos, by Carl Sagan
Sagan's tour of the universe and how we came to understand it. It keeps the science in.
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LISTING
Pale Blue Dot, by Carl Sagan
Sagan's case for people leaving Earth one day, and an honest look at how hard that would be.
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LISTING
Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir
A science-fiction novel from the author of The Martian, built around solving one engineering problem after another.
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LINKS AMAZON.COM
Sources and licences
Event text and thumbnails come from Wikipedia and are used under CC BY-SA 4.0. Images come only from Wikimedia Commons, which doesn't accept non-free content. Each thumbnail links to its file page, which lists its licence and author.
Launch records are from The Space Devs’ Launch Library 2. Pictures are NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day. Many of them belong to the photographer or a partner agency, so we only show the ones credited to NASA alone.