This Day In Space History: September 4

1682

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Edmond-Halley
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Halleys-Comet
What came to be known as Halley's Comet was observed by English astronomer Edmund Halley. Among the many things he studied were comets. Noticing a similarity in the chaarcteristics of comets seen in 1531, 1607, and 1682, Halley determined it was the same comet returning -- Halley's Comet. In his measurements and studies, he accurately predicted its 1758 return. Halley's Comet, which came closest to Earth on April 10, 1986 at 0.417 AU, was the first comet to be imaged by spacecraft. It will next be seen from Earth in 2061.

1933

http://www.jitterbuzz.com/MAN_1933_05.html
The Wedell-Williams Model 44 airplane sets a record speed of 300 mph at the International Air Race near Chicago, piloted by Jimmie Wedell.

2011

NASA's Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission is launched, sending two twin probes -Ebb and Flow- to orbit the Moon. According to NASA, "The [mission's] goal was to reveal differences in density of the Moon's crust and mantle and will help answer fundamental questions about the Moon's internal structure, thermal evolution and history of collisions with asteroids." 

for more information, check out https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/grail or http://moon.mit.edu/team.html

For a complete list of today’s Space History, see  http://www.astronautix.com/s/september04.html