1978 in spaceflight

1978 in spaceflight
The Pioneer Venus Orbiter atop an Atlas-Centaur before launch
Orbital launches
First6 January
Last28 December
Total128
Catalogued124
National firsts
Space traveller Czechoslovakia
 Poland
 East Germany DDR
Rockets
RetirementsAtlas-Agena
Mu-3H
Crewed flights
Orbital5
Total travellers10

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 		Soviet UnionSoyuz-U Soviet UnionBaikonur Site 1/5 Soviet Union
Soviet UnionSoyuz 27 Low Earth (Salyut 6) Salyut 6 EP-1 16 March
11:18		 Successful
Crewed flight with two cosmonauts
20 January
08:25 		Soviet UnionSoyuz-U Soviet UnionBaikonur Site 31/6 Soviet Union
Soviet UnionProgress 1 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 		ChinaLong March 2A Jiuquan, LA-2/138
ChinaFSW-0 3 Low Earth Reconnaissance 30 January Successful
Re-entry capsule recovered on 30 January.

February

4 February
07:00 		JapanM-3H JapanKagoshima Space Center LP-M ISAS
JapanEXOS-A (Kyokko) ISAS Highly elliptical orbit Magnetosphere research In orbit Successful

March

2 March
15:28:10 		Soviet UnionSoyuz-U Soviet UnionBaikonur Site 1/5 Soviet Union
Soviet UnionSoyuz 28 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 		United StatesAtlas SLV-3D Centaur United StatesCape Canaveral LC-36A United States
United StatesPioneer Venus Orbiter 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 		Soviet UnionSoyuz-U Soviet UnionBaikonur Site 1/5 Soviet Union
Soviet UnionSoyuz 29 Low Earth (Salyut 6) Salyut 6 EO-2 31 September
11:40		 Successful
Crewed flight with two cosmonauts
16 June
10:49 		United StatesDelta 2914 United StatesCape Canaveral LC-17B United States
United StatesGOES 3 NOAA Geostationary Weather In orbit Successful
Decommissioned on 29 June 2016.
27 June
15:27:21 		Soviet UnionSoyuz-U Soviet UnionBaikonur Site 1/5 Soviet Union
Soviet UnionSoyuz 30 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 		United StatesAtlas SLV-3D Centaur United StatesCape Canaveral LC-36A United States
United StatesPioneer Venus Multiprobe Bus NASA/ARC Heliocentric Venus atmospheric probe 9 December 1978
20:22:55		 Successful
United StatesPioneer Venus Large Probe NASA/ARC Heliocentric Venus atmospheric probe 9 December 1978
19:39:53		 Successful
United StatesPioneer Venus North Probe NASA/ARC Heliocentric Venus atmospheric probe 9 December 1978
19:42:40		 Successful
United StatesPioneer Venus Night Probe NASA/ARC Heliocentric Venus atmospheric probe 9 December 1978
19:52:07		 Successful
United StatesPioneer Venus Day Probe 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 		United StatesDelta 2914 United StatesCape Canaveral LC-17B United States
United StatesEuropean UnionInternational Sun-Earth Explorer-3 (ISEE-3)/International Cometary Explorer (ICE) 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 		Soviet UnionSoyuz-U Soviet UnionBaikonur Site 1/5 Soviet Union
Soviet UnionSoyuz 31 Low Earth (Salyut 6) Salyut 6 EP-4 2 November
11:04		 Successful
Crewed flight with two cosmonauts, first East German in space

September

16 September
05:00 		JapanM-3H JapanKagoshima Space Center LP-M JapanISAS
JapanEXOS-B (Jikiken) ISAS Highly elliptical orbit Magnetosphere research 23 April 2018 Successful

October

3 October
23:09:30 		Soviet UnionSoyuz-U Soviet UnionBaikonur Site 31/6 Soviet Union
Soviet UnionProgress 4 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 		Soviet UnionVladimir Kovalyonok
Soviet UnionAleksandr Ivanchenkov 		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:

Spaceflight portal

Footnotes

  1. ^ Hughes, J (1996) Larousse Desk Reference Encloypedia London RD Press