1978 in spaceflight
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1978 saw the launch of the Pioneer Venus missions launched by the United States, on 20 May and 8 August. The Pioneer Venus Multiprobe landed four spacecraft on the planet, one of which transmitted data for 67 minutes before being destroyed by atmospheric pressure. ISEE-C, which was launched on 8 December, flew past comet 21P/Giacobini–Zinner in 1985, and Halley's Comet in 1986.[1]
Launches
Date and time (UTC) | Rocket | Flight number | Launch site | LSP | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Payload (⚀ = CubeSat) | Operator | Orbit | Function | Decay (UTC) | Outcome | |||
Remarks | ||||||||
January | ||||||||
10 January 12:26:00 | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | |||||
![]() | Low Earth (Salyut 6) | Salyut 6 EP-1 | 16 March 11:18 | Successful | ||||
Crewed flight with two cosmonauts | ||||||||
20 January 08:25 | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | |||||
![]() | Low Earth (Salyut 6) | Salyut 6 logistics | 8 February 02:00 | Successful | ||||
Maiden flight of Progress spacecraft. First in-orbit refuel, from Progress to Salyut 6, 2nd Feb. | ||||||||
26 January 04:58 | ![]() | Jiuquan, LA-2/138 | ||||||
![]() | Low Earth | Reconnaissance | 30 January | Successful | ||||
Re-entry capsule recovered on 30 January. | ||||||||
March | ||||||||
2 March 15:28:10 | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | |||||
![]() | Low Earth (Salyut 6) | Salyut 6 EP-2 | 10 March 11:24 | Successful | ||||
Crewed flight with two cosmonauts, first Czechoslovakian in space | ||||||||
May | ||||||||
20 May 13:13:00 | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | |||||
![]() | NASA/ARC | Cytherocentric | Venus orbiter | 22 October 1992 | Successful | |||
Entered 181.6 x 66,360-km orbit around Venus on 4 December 1978. | ||||||||
June | ||||||||
15 June 20:16:45 | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | |||||
![]() | Low Earth (Salyut 6) | Salyut 6 EO-2 | 31 September 11:40 | Successful | ||||
Crewed flight with two cosmonauts | ||||||||
16 June 10:49 | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | |||||
![]() | NOAA | Geostationary | Weather | In orbit | Successful | |||
Decommissioned on 29 June 2016. | ||||||||
27 June 15:27:21 | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | |||||
![]() | Low Earth (Salyut 6) | Salyut 6 EP-3 | 5 July 13:30 | Successful | ||||
Crewed flight with two cosmonauts, first Pole in space | ||||||||
August | ||||||||
8 August 07:33 | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | |||||
![]() | NASA/ARC | Heliocentric | Venus atmospheric probe | 9 December 1978 20:22:55 | Successful | |||
![]() | NASA/ARC | Heliocentric | Venus atmospheric probe | 9 December 1978 19:39:53 | Successful | |||
![]() | NASA/ARC | Heliocentric | Venus atmospheric probe | 9 December 1978 19:42:40 | Successful | |||
![]() | NASA/ARC | Heliocentric | Venus atmospheric probe | 9 December 1978 19:52:07 | Successful | |||
![]() | NASA/ARC | Heliocentric | Venus atmospheric probe | 9 December 1978 20:55:34 | Successful | |||
Day Probe survived landing, sent data for an additional 67 minutes afterward. First American probe to send data from the surface of Venus. | ||||||||
12 August 14:12:00 | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | |||||
![]() ![]() | NASA/ESRO | Sun/Earth L1 to Heliocentric | Probing interaction of Earth's magnetic field with solar wind, later cometary research | In orbit | Successful | |||
First probe stationed at Sun/Earth L1 Lagrangian point. Later entered heliocentric orbit, encountering Comet Giacobini–Zinner on 11 September 1985. It would also study Halley's Comet from a distance in 1986. | ||||||||
26 August 14:51:30 | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | |||||
![]() | Low Earth (Salyut 6) | Salyut 6 EP-4 | 2 November 11:04 | Successful | ||||
Crewed flight with two cosmonauts, first East German in space | ||||||||
October | ||||||||
3 October 23:09:30 | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | |||||
![]() | Low Earth (Salyut 6) | Salyut 6 logistics | 26 October 16:28 | Successful |
Deep Space Rendezvous
Date (GMT) | Spacecraft | Event | Remarks |
---|---|---|---|
4 December | Pioneer Venus Orbiter | Cytherocentric orbit insertion | |
9 December | Pioneer Venus Multiprobe | Venerian atmospheric entry | The bus, one large and three small subprobes |
21 December | Venera 12 | Venerian landing | |
25 December | Venera 11 | Venerian landing |
EVAs
Start Date/Time | Duration | End Time | Spacecraft | Crew | Remarks |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
29 July 04:00 | 2 hours 20 minutes | 06:20 | Salyut 6 PE-2 | ![]() ![]() | Ivanchenkov retrieved samples and experiments attached to the outside of Salyut. Kovalyonok assisted with the retrievals and used a color television camera to transmit EVA images to the ground controllers. |
References
- Bergin, Chris. "NASASpaceFlight.com".
- Clark, Stephen. "Spaceflight Now".
- Kelso, T.S. "Satellite Catalog (SATCAT)". CelesTrak.[dead link]
- Krebs, Gunter. "Chronology of Space Launches".
- Kyle, Ed. "Space Launch Report". Archived from the original on 5 October 2009. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
- McDowell, Jonathan. "GCAT Orbital Launch Log".
- Pietrobon, Steven. "Steven Pietrobon's Space Archive".
- Wade, Mark. "Encyclopedia Astronautica".
- Webb, Brian. "Southwest Space Archive".
- Zak, Anatoly. "Russian Space Web".
- "ISS Calendar". Spaceflight 101.
- "NSSDCA Master Catalog". NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
- "Space Calendar". NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.[dead link]
- "Space Information Center". JAXA.[dead link]
- "Хроника освоения космоса" [Chronicle of space exploration]. CosmoWorld (in Russian).
Generic references:
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Footnotes
- ^ Hughes, J (1996) Larousse Desk Reference Encloypedia London RD Press