1978 in spaceflight

Template:Short description Template:Use British English {{Wikipedia:WikiProject Timeline of spaceflight/Cleanup|incomplete=yes|refs=yes}} Template:Infobox Year in spaceflight

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.

Launches

Template:Flatlist ← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec →

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	Template:FlagiconSoyuz-U			Template:FlagiconBaikonur Site 1/5		Template:Flagicon
		Template:FlagiconSoyuz 27		Low Earth (Salyut 6)	Salyut 6 EP-1	16 March 11:18	Successful
		Crewed flight with two cosmonauts
20 January 08:25	Template:FlagiconSoyuz-U			Template:FlagiconBaikonur Site 31/6		Template:Flagicon
		Template:FlagiconProgress 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	Template:FlagiconLong March 2A			Jiuquan, LA-2/138
		Template:FlagiconFSW-0 3		Low Earth	Reconnaissance	30 January	Successful
		Re-entry capsule recovered on 30 January.
Template:Flatlist ← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → February
4 February 07:00	Template:FlagiconM-3H			Template:FlagiconKagoshima Space Center LP-M		ISAS
		Template:FlagiconEXOS-A (Kyokko)	ISAS	Highly elliptical orbit	Magnetosphere research	In orbit	Successful
Template:Flatlist ← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → March
2 March 15:28:10	Template:FlagiconSoyuz-U			Template:FlagiconBaikonur Site 1/5		Template:Flagicon
		Template:FlagiconSoyuz 28		Low Earth (Salyut 6)	Salyut 6 EP-2	10 March 11:24	Successful
		Crewed flight with two cosmonauts, first Czechoslovakian in space
Template:Flatlist ← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → May
20 May 13:13:00	Template:FlagiconAtlas SLV-3D Centaur			Template:FlagiconCape Canaveral LC-36A		Template:Flagicon
		Template:FlagiconPioneer 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.
Template:Flatlist ← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → June
15 June 20:16:45	Template:FlagiconSoyuz-U			Template:FlagiconBaikonur Site 1/5		Template:Flagicon
		Template:FlagiconSoyuz 29		Low Earth (Salyut 6)	Salyut 6 EO-2	31 September 11:40	Successful
		Crewed flight with two cosmonauts
16 June 10:49	Template:FlagiconDelta 2914			Template:FlagiconCape Canaveral LC-17B		Template:Flagicon
		Template:FlagiconGOES 3	NOAA	Geostationary	Weather	In orbit	Successful
		Decommissioned on 29 June 2016.
27 June 15:27:21	Template:FlagiconSoyuz-U			Template:FlagiconBaikonur Site 1/5		Template:Flagicon
		Template:FlagiconSoyuz 30		Low Earth (Salyut 6)	Salyut 6 EP-3	5 July 13:30	Successful
		Crewed flight with two cosmonauts, first Pole in space
Template:Flatlist ← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → August
8 August 07:33	Template:FlagiconAtlas SLV-3D Centaur			Template:FlagiconCape Canaveral LC-36A		Template:Flagicon
		Template:FlagiconPioneer Venus Multiprobe Bus	NASA/ARC	Heliocentric	Venus atmospheric probe	9 December 1978 20:22:55	Successful
		Template:FlagiconPioneer Venus Large Probe	NASA/ARC	Heliocentric	Venus atmospheric probe	9 December 1978 19:39:53	Successful
		Template:FlagiconPioneer Venus North Probe	NASA/ARC	Heliocentric	Venus atmospheric probe	9 December 1978 19:42:40	Successful
		Template:FlagiconPioneer Venus Night Probe	NASA/ARC	Heliocentric	Venus atmospheric probe	9 December 1978 19:52:07	Successful
		Template:FlagiconPioneer 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	Template:FlagiconDelta 2914			Template:FlagiconCape Canaveral LC-17B		Template:Flagicon
		Template:FlagiconInternational 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	Template:FlagiconSoyuz-U			Template:FlagiconBaikonur Site 1/5		Template:Flagicon
		Template:FlagiconSoyuz 31		Low Earth (Salyut 6)	Salyut 6 EP-4	2 November 11:04	Successful
		Crewed flight with two cosmonauts, first East German in space
Template:Flatlist ← Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec → September
16 September 05:00	Template:FlagiconM-3H			Template:FlagiconKagoshima Space Center LP-M		Template:FlagiconISAS
		Template:FlagiconEXOS-B (Jikiken)	ISAS	Highly elliptical orbit	Magnetosphere research	23 April 2018	Successful
October
3 October 23:09:30	Template:FlagiconSoyuz-U			Template:FlagiconBaikonur Site 31/6		Template:Flagicon
		Template:FlagiconProgress 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	Template:FlagiconVladimir Kovalyonok Template:FlagiconAleksandr 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

Generic references: