2004 in science

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The year 2004 CE in science and technology included many events, some of which are listed below.

Table of contents

Astronomy and space exploration

January 3 - NASA's Spirit, the first of two Mars Exploration Rovers, lands successfully on Mars.
January 19 - the Hubble Space Telescope Program received notification of the cancellation of all further HST on-orbit servicing
March 2 - NASA report that the area where their Mars probe Opportunity touched down shows unmistakeable signs of contact with water in the geological past.
March 2 - ESA's Rosetta mission launches, aiming to land on Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2014.
March 4- NASA's Spirit finds evidence of past contact with water in volcanic rocks on Mars.
March 15 - Astronomers announce the discovery of Sedna, a Pluto-like planetoid which is the most distant individual object known to orbit the Sun.
April 1 - The Genesis probe closes and seals its particle collection instrument, and begins to return to Earth.
April 20 - Gravity Probe B satellite is launched and placed in polar orbit. It is designed to test effects of the general theory of relativity with high precision.

April 20 - NASA launches Gravity Probe B in an effort to test Einstein's general theory of relativity.
March A team from Australia, Russia and Greece announce a new material, made from a nano-foam of carbon that has the lowest density ever reported for a solid.

March 27 - NASA succeeds in a second attempt to fly its X-43A experimental airplane from the Hyper-X project, attaining speeds in excess of Mach 7, the fastest ever air-breathing hypersonic flight.
April 2004 - Scientists from the University of California at Irvine announce the first high-speed transistor made from a carbon nanotube, operating at microwave frequencies.