1986 in science

• January 24 – NASA Voyager 2 space probe makes first encounter with Uranus. • January 28 – NASA Space Shuttle Challenger explodes on launch, killing all seven astronauts aboard. Their bodies are located by United States Navy divers on March 9. • February 19 – The Soviet Union launches the Mir space station. • March 8 – Japanese spacecraft Suisei flies by Halley's Comet, studying its UV hydrogen corona and solar wind. • October 10 – Aten asteroid 3753 Cruithne, in co-orbital configuration with Earth, is identified by Duncan Waldron. ==Biology==

• May – First reported methods for constructing a monoclonal antibody containing parts from mouse and human antibodies, a required first step toward the development of humanized antibodies used later as medical therapeutics (such as Infliximab). • English epidemiologist David Barker proposes his fetal origins hypothesis. ==Computer science==

• January 16 – The Internet Engineering Task Force, a standards organization that develops and promotes Internet standards, holds its first meeting, consisting of 21 United States government-funded researchers. • January 19 – The first MS-DOS-based personal computer virus, Brain, starts to spread. • April 3 – IBM unveils the PC Convertible, the first laptop computer. • June 23 – Eric Thomas develops LISTSERV, the first email list management software. • Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) is visualized by Mark Crispin. • 3D printing is developed by Charles Hull. • Pixar is founded. ==Mathematics==

• Summer – Kenneth Alan Ribet demonstrates proof of the ε-conjecture, subsequently known as Ribet's theorem confirming Gerhard Frey's suggestion that the Taniyama–Shimura conjecture implies Fermat's Last Theorem. • Lawrence Paulson makes the first release of Isabelle (proof assistant). • Lee Sallows introduces the alphamagic square. ==Technology==

• January 11 – The Gateway Bridge is opened in Brisbane, Australia, the world's largest prestressed concrete single box bridge. • April 26 – Chernobyl disaster: An RBMK at Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic reaches prompt criticality. • December 23 – Rutan Voyager becomes the first aircraft to fly around the world without stopping or refueling, landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California after a nine-day trip piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager. ==Awards==

• Crafoord Prize in Geosciences: Gerald Wasserburg and Claude Jean Allègre • Fields Prize in Mathematics: Simon Donaldson, Gerd Faltings and Michael Freedman • Nobel Prizes • Physics – Ernst Ruska, Gerd Binnig, Heinrich Rohrer • Chemistry – Dudley R. Herschbach, Yuan T. Lee, John C. Polanyi • Medicine – Stanley Cohen, Rita Levi-Montalcini • Turing Award – John Hopcroft, Robert Tarjan • Wollaston Medal for Geology – Claude Jean Allègre ==Births==

• November 8 – Aaron Swartz (suicide 2013), American computer programmer and Internet hactivist. ==Deaths==

mission STS-51-L • January 7 – Rex Wailes (b. 1901), English engineer and historian of technology. • January 28 • Crew of United States Space Shuttle Challenger mission STS-51-L: • Greg Jarvis (b. 1944) • Christa McAuliffe (b. 1948) • Ronald McNair (b. 1950) • Ellison Onizuka (b. 1946) • Judith Resnik (b. 1949) • Dick Scobee (b. 1939) • Michael J. Smith (b. 1945) • Dorothée Pullinger (b. 1894), French-born British production engineer. • April 22 – Dame Honor Fell (b. 1900), English biologist. • July 6 – William Rashkind (b. 1922), American cardiologist. • July 21 – Zhang Yuzhe (b. 1902), Chinese astronomer. • October 22 – Albert Szent-Györgyi (b. 1893), Hungarian physiologist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. • October 31 – Edward Adelbert Doisy (b. 1893), American biochemist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. • June 7 – Robert S. Mulliken (b. 1896), American physicist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. • November 25 – Sir Ivan Magill (b. 1888), British anesthesiologist. ==References==