INPE - 1966

• Beginning of Meteorological Satellite Program (MESA) - reception of weather images.
  
  
  
  Radar, at Cachoeira Paulista, to study winds (MESA Project).
• INPE (then CNAE) is assigned to coordinate Brazilian Mission Eclipse, NASA, which launched rockets in order to take ionosphere and atmosphere measurements during the solar eclipse in 1966. Rockets have been launched for scientific studies from Cassino Beach, Rio Grande do Sul, and from Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.
  
  
  
  Launch Field at Cassino Beach, Rio Grande (RS) Brazil.
• Start a program of atmospheric measurements by rockets, called "Rocket Grenade Experiment" which consisted to a series of rocket launches conducted by NASA (USA) in partnership with INPE (CNAE at that time) at Barreira do Inferno Launch Field (CLBI) in order to perform measurements of temperature, winds and atmospheric density until 90 km height.
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  Meeting between NASA researchers and CNAE researcher Luiz Gylvan Meira Filho to handle the Exametnet project.
  Beginning of the EXAMETNET rocket experiments (Experimental Inter-American Meteorological Rocket) involving NASA, Barreira do Inferno Launch Field (CLBI), and INPE in order to perform measurements of meteorological parameters between 30 and 60 km height. 88 operations had been performed between 1966 and 1978, totaling 207 entries.

  Worldwide

• The Soviet spacecraft Lunik 9 becomes the first manmade object to land softly on the lunar surface and emit a series of images of the Sea of Storms.

• The Surveyor 1 satellite became the first U.S. probe to achieve a smooth landing on the lunar surface.