1941: German engineer Konrad Zuse presents the Z3 in Berlin, the world’s first functional, programmable, and fully automatic computer. Using telephone relays, it operated in binary—an architecture that foreshadowed all of modern computing and the massive data management used in astronomy today.

1965: The Soviet probe Luna 5 crashes on the Moon. Launched with the goal of achieving the first-ever soft landing on the lunar surface, it fell victim to a failure in its retro-rocket system. Although it missed its primary objective, the mission allowed for the testing of complex approach trajectories toward the Sea of Clouds (Mare Nubium).

Image credits : Deutsches Museum