Editing 1969 in science (section)

==Astronomy and space exploration==
[[File:Armstrong on Moon (As11-40-5886) (cropped).jpg|thumb|275px|[[Neil Armstrong]] on the Moon]]
* January 14 – [[Soyuz programme]]: The [[Soviet Union]] launches [[Soyuz 4]].
* January 15 – Soyuz programme: The Soviet Union launches [[Soyuz 5]].
* January 16 – First successful docking of two crewed spacecraft in orbit and the first transfer of crew from one space vehicle to another (by a [[space walk]]) between Soyuz 5 and Soyuz 4.<ref>{{cite news|title=Russians Master Space Docking|newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|date=1969-01-17|page=2}}</ref>
* January 18 – Failure of [[Soyuz 5]]'s service module to separate correctly causes a near-fatal re-entry (not publicly acknowledged until 1997) but the module makes a hard landing in the [[Ural Mountains]].<ref>{{cite journal|first=James|last=Oberg|authorlink=James Oberg|journal=Flight Journal|date=June 2002|volume=7|issue=3|title=Soyuz 5's Flaming Return|pages=56–60|url=https://www.jamesoberg.com/062002flightjournalsoyuz5.html|accessdate=2024-11-24}}</ref>
* March 3 – [[Apollo program]]: [[NASA]] launches [[Apollo 9]] to test the [[lunar module]].
* March 13 – [[Apollo program]]: [[Apollo 9]] returns safely to [[Earth]] after testing the [[Lunar Module]].
* May 16 – [[Venera program]]: [[Venera 5]], a [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] spaceprobe, lands on [[Venus]].
* May 17 –  Venera program: [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[Venera 6]] begins to descend into [[Venus]]', atmosphere sending back atmospheric data before being crushed by pressure.
* May 18 – [[Apollo program]]: [[Apollo 10]] launches.
* May 22 –  Apollo program: [[Apollo 10]]'s lunar module flies within 15,400 m of the [[Moon]]'s surface.
* May 26 – Apollo program: [[Apollo 10]] returns to [[Earth]] after a successful eight-day test of all the components needed for the upcoming first human [[Moon]] landing.
* July 17 – ''[[The New York Times]]'' publicly retracts its ridicule of the rocket scientist [[Robert H. Goddard]] published on 13 January 1920 which stated that [[spaceflight]] is impossible.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.astronauticsnow.com/history/goddard/index.html|title=Robert H. Goddard Story|work=astronauticsnow|access-date=2019-07-19}}</ref>
* July 20 – [[Apollo program]]: 20:17 UTC – The human race, represented by [[Neil Armstrong]] and [[Buzz Aldrin]], lands on the [[Moon]] in the [[Apollo 11]] [[Lunar Module Eagle|Lunar Module ''Eagle'']]. At 02:56 UTC on July 21 (22:56 ET July 20), Armstrong takes the first human step on the Moon's surface. Apollo 11 lifted off for the Moon on July 16 and returns safely on July 24.
* July 21 – [[Luna programme]]: 2 hours before the Apollo 11 lunar module lifts off from the Moon's surface, the Soviet uncrewed craft [[Luna 15]], launched on July 13 and intended to return samples from the Moon, crashes in [[Mare Crisium]].
* August 5 – [[Mariner program]]: [[Mariner 7]] makes its closest fly-by of [[Mars]] (3,524 kilometers).
* September 20 – Comet [[67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko]] is identified by Soviet astronomers [[Klim Churyumov]] and [[Svetlana Gerasimenko]].
* November 14 – [[Apollo program]]: [[NASA]] launches [[Apollo 12]], the second crewed mission to the surface of the [[Moon]].
* November 19 – [[Apollo program]]: [[Apollo 12]] astronauts [[Pete Conrad|Charles Conrad]] and [[Alan Bean]] land at [[Oceanus Procellarum]] ("Ocean of Storms") and become the third and fourth [[human]]s to walk on the [[Moon]].