Editing 1997 in science (section)

==Astronomy and space exploration==
* January 17 – Explosion of a [[Delta II]] rocket carrying a military [[GPS]] payload shortly after liftoff from [[Cape Canaveral]].
* February 13 – Tune-up and repair work on the [[Hubble Space Telescope]] is started by astronauts from the [[Space Shuttle Discovery|Space Shuttle ''Discovery'']].
* February 27 – [[GRB 970228]], a highly luminous flash of [[gamma ray]]s, strikes the Earth for 80 seconds, providing early evidence that [[gamma-ray burst]]s occur well beyond the Milky Way.
* March 8 – [[Solar eclipse of March 9, 1997|Complete solar eclipse]].
* March 24 – [[March 1997 lunar eclipse|Partial lunar eclipse]].
* July 4 – ''[[Mars Pathfinder]]'' lands on the surface of [[Mars]].
* August 25 – Launch of [[Explorer 71]] of the [[Explorer program]] of spacecraft.
* September 2 – [[Solar eclipse of September 2, 1997|Partial solar eclipse]].
* September – [[September 1997 lunar eclipse|Total lunar eclipse]].
* October 15 – Launch of 10-year ''[[Cassini–Huygens]]'' spacecraft to [[Saturn]].
* October 30 – First successful test flight of the [[ESA]]'s [[Ariane 5]] [[expendable launch system]].