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List of years in science (Table)
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… 2005 • 2006 • 2007 – 2008 – 2009 • 2010 • 2011 … … 1970s • 1980s • 1990s – 2000s – 2010s • 2020s • 2030s … … 20th century – 21st century – 22nd century …
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2008 : ← - January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December - →

The year 2008 in science involved some significant events, listed below.

[edit] Events

Scientific events in the year 2008 include:

• January 15 - NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft makes its first of three flybys of Mercury at 200 km altitude, to decrease velocity enough to a 2011 orbit insertion.
• March 12 - Cassini Spacecraft is set to orbit within 100 km of Enceladus, its closest encounter of the sixth largest moon of Saturn.
• April 2 - A cross human-cow embryo survives a third straight day after being fertilized at Newcastle University, England. A director for embryonic stem cell laboratories at the Australian Stem Cell Centre said that the "99 per cent human" embryo could improve research within the field of human diseases. The Catholic Church in England however said that the creation was "monstrous" and says that the later destruction of it is unethical. (News.com.au)
• June 8 - NASA's Pluto probe New Horizons crosses the orbit of Saturn, after 2½ years journey. The Voyagers spent 3 to 4 years to get to Saturn.
• August 1 - Total solar eclipse: northern Canada, Siberia, Mongolia, northern China.
• September 10 - The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) particle accelerator and collider at CERN begins proton beam tests.
• September 19 - A magnet in the LHC fails, damaging several other magnets and requiring substantial repairs.
• October 6 - NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft makes the second of three flybys of Mercury.
• October 7 - 2008 TC3 becomes the first earth-impacting meteoroid spotted and tracked prior to impact.
• The Indian Space Research Organization plans an unmanned mission to the Moon.
• November 10 - The Martin Jetpack flies for 46 seconds longer then any other jet pack. [1]

[edit] Deaths

• April 13 - John Wheeler (b. 1911), theoretical physicist, coined the terms black hole and worm hole.
• April 16 - Edward Norton Lorenz (b. 1917), mathematician and meteorologist, coined the term butterfly effect.
• April 29 - Albert Hofmann (b. 1906), chemist, synthesizer of LSD.
• May 15 - Willis Lamb (b. 1913), physicist, winner of the 1955 Nobel Prize in Physics.
• August 5 - Neil Bartlett (b. 1932), chemist who prepared the first compound of a noble gas

[edit] See also

• 2008 in archaeology
• 2008 in paleontology
• 2008 in spaceflight

[edit] Events in science and technology by month

2009 in science: January February March April
2008 in science: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2007 in science: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2006 in science: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2005 in science: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2004 in science: November December
(For earlier science and technology events, see October 2004 and preceding months)