25 May

1996: On 25 May 1996, scientists from ESA, NASA and the US Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) released a series of images of the bright Comet Hyakutake making its close approach to the Sun. The observations were made from 29 April to 6 May 1996 with the NRL-built Large Angle Spectrometric Coronograph (LASCO) instrument on the ESA/NASA SOHO spacecraft.

Scattering of sunlight in Earth's atmosphere prevented good views from the ground when the comet was closest to the Sun. The orbital period of Comet Hyakutake has been estimated to be 10 000 years. Hyakutake is called a 'new' comet because it was not seen when, and if, it last visited the Solar System.

As Hyakutake approached the Sun, it was heated enormously. If this is the first visit of a comet, it can be broken into pieces. Images captured by the LASCO instrument have shown that this did not happen when the comet was in LASCO's field of view.

1961: On 25 May 1961, the formal announcement of an American lunar landing programme was made by President John F. Kennedy speaking to the US Congress.

He said: "I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth."