- On October 5, NASA and SpaceX will launch the Crew Dragon on a mission to the International Space Station. There are also several other launches planned for the month.
- SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket will launch the USSF 52 mission for the U.S. Space Force.
- SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch a Dragon 2 spacecraft on a resupply mission for the ISSA.
- Chinese Long March 5B rocket will launch the Mengtian laboratory module – the third major element of China’s space station.
- October 6 is the 81st anniversary of Chester Carlson patenting a process for “electrophotography,” now commonly known as photocopying or “Xeroxing.”
- October 6 is also International Geodiversity Day. Canada has 10 sites recognized by Unesco as uniquely representative of geodiversity. How many have you visited?
- Anthropologist Louis Leakey was born on October 7, 1903. Leakey showed that the human species was older than previously thought, and had primarily evolved in Africa.
- October 11 is International Day of the Girl Child, focusing attention on the need to address the challenges girls face and to promote girls’ empowerment and the fulfillment of their human rights.
- October 13 is the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction.
- “Cyborg” Matthew Nagle was born on October 16, 1979. Nagle was the first person to use a brain–computer interface to restore functionality lost due to paralysis.
- October 20 marks the 163rd birthday of philosopher, educational theorist, and writer John Dewey.
- October 21 marks the 189th birthday of Swedish scientist Alfred Nobel, inventor of a detonator for dynamite and founder of the eponymous Nobel Prize.
- 161 years ago, on October 26, 1861, a telegraph system across the U.S. was completed, providing the capability for near-instantaneous communication.