Editing 1962 in science (section)

==Astronomy and space exploration==
* January 26 – The [[Ranger 3]] [[space probe]] is launched to study the [[Moon]], but later misses it by 22,000 miles.
* February 4–5 – During a [[new moon]] and total [[Solar eclipse of February 5, 1962|solar eclipse]], an extremely rare [[grand conjunction]] of the [[classical planets]] occurs, including all five of the [[naked-eye planet]]s plus the Sun and Moon, all within 16° of each another on the [[ecliptic]].
* February 19 – [[February 1962 lunar eclipse|Penumbral lunar eclipse]].
* February 20 – [[Mercury program]]: While aboard ''[[Mercury Atlas 6|Friendship 7]]'', [[John Glenn]] orbits the [[Earth]] three times in 4 hours, 55 minutes, becoming the first American to do so.
* April 26 – The [[Ranger 4]] spacecraft crashes into the [[Moon]]. It is also the first spacecraft to impact the [[far side of the Moon]] as well.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Discussion |journal=Space Policy |volume=14 |issue=1 |year=1998 |pages=5–8 |doi=10.1016/S0265-9646(97)00038-6 |bibcode=1998SpPol..14....5. }}</ref>
* May 24 – Mercury program: [[Scott Carpenter]] becomes the second American to orbit the Earth aboard ''[[Aurora 7]]''.
* July 17 – [[July 1962 lunar eclipse|Penumbral lunar eclipse]].
* July 11 – First live transatlantic television broadcast from the [[United States]] to [[United Kingdom|Britain]], via [[AT&T Corporation|AT&T]]'s [[Telstar]], the world's first active, direct relay [[communications satellite]] (launched the previous day on a [[NASA]] [[Delta rocket]] from [[Cape Canaveral]]) and [[Goonhilly Satellite Earth Station]].<ref>{{cite web|title=The First Transatlantic Satellite Relay|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723002418/http://www.tvhistory.btinternet.co.uk/html/telstar.html|archivedate=2011-07-23|url=http://www.tvhistory.btinternet.co.uk/html/telstar.html|work=British TV History|accessdate=2012-01-10}}</ref>
* July 22 – [[Mariner program]]: The [[Mariner 1]] spacecraft flies erratically several minutes after launch and has to be destroyed.
* July 31 – [[Solar eclipse of July 31, 1962|Annular solar eclipse]].
* August 5 – [[3C 273]], the first object to be identified as a [[quasar]], is found by [[John Gatenby Bolton|John Bolton]] with the [[radio telescope]] at the [[Parkes Observatory]] in [[New South Wales]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Brad|last=Collis|title=Fields of Discovery: Australia's CSIRO|url=https://archive.org/details/fieldsdiscoverya00coll_879|url-access=limited|publisher=Allen & Unwin|year=2002|page=[https://archive.org/details/fieldsdiscoverya00coll_879/page/n410 391]|bibcode=2002fdac.book.....C }}</ref>
* August 15 – [[August 1962 lunar eclipse|Penumbral lunar eclipse]].
* September 29 – The Canadian ''[[Alouette 1]]'', the first satellite built outside the United States or the Soviet Union, is launched from [[Vandenberg Air Force Base]] in [[California]].
* December 14 – [[Mariner program]]: The [[Mariner 2]] spacecraft flies by [[Venus]], the first to carry out a successful planetary encounter.
* [[Olin Eggen]], [[Donald Lynden-Bell]], and [[Allan Sandage]] theorize [[galaxy formation]] by a single (relatively) rapid monolithic collapse, with the halo forming first, followed by the disk.