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January 6 - The Lunar Prospector spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon and later found evidence for frozen water in soil in permanently shadowed craters near the Moon's poles. January 8 - Cosmologists announce that the expansion rate of the universe is increasing. January 14 - Researchers in Dallas, Texas present findings about an enzyme that slows aging and cell death (apoptosis). March 2 - Data sent from the Galileo probe indicates that Jupiter's moon Europa has a liquid ocean under a thick crust of ice March 5 - NASA announced that the Clementine probe orbiting the Moon had found enough water in polar craters to support a human colony and rocket fueling station March 5 - NASA announces the choice of United States Air Force Lt. Col. Eileen Collins as commander of a future Space Shuttle Columbia mission to launch an X-ray telescope making Collins the first woman commander of a space shuttle mission. October 29 - Space Shuttle Discovery blasts-off with 77-year old John Glenn on board, making him the oldest person to go into space. He became the first American to orbit Earth on Tuesday, February 20, 1962.
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