Editing 1979 in science (section)

==Astronomy and space exploration==
* February 7 – [[Pluto]] enters a 20-year period inside the orbit of [[Neptune]] for the first time in 230 years.
* March 7 – The largest [[magnetar]] ([[soft gamma repeater]]) event is recorded.
* July 11 – America's first space station, ''[[Skylab]]'', is deliberately allowed to burn up on [[atmospheric entry]] over the Indian Ocean due to its decaying orbit and the lack of time to build a new spaceship to boost it up.
* September 1 – The American ''[[Pioneer 11]]'' becomes the first spacecraft to visit [[Saturn]] when it passes the planet at a distance of 21,000&nbsp;km.
* December 24 &ndash; The maiden launch of [[Ariane 1]], the first rocket in the [[Ariane (rocket family)|Ariane]] launcher family.
* [[Amateur Achievement Award of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific]] given for the first time.