1972 in spaceflight

1972 saw humanity's last crewed mission to the Moon of the 20th century, Apollo 17.

1972 in spaceflight
The final Apollo mission to the Moon

Launches

This is a list of spaceflights launched in 1972.

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.
Launch date/time Rocket Launch
site		 Launch contractor Payload Operator Orbit Mission/
function		 Reentry/
destruction		 Outcome Remarks
January 23
00:12 GMT		 Atlas SLV-3C Centaur LC-36B, Cape Canaveral Intelsat 4 F-4 Intelsat Geosynchronous Comsat Still in orbit Successful
January 31
17:20 GMT		 Thor Delta L SLC-2E, Vandenberg AFB HEOS 2 ESRO High eccentricity LEO/HEO Particle and field research August 2, 1974 Successful Final flight of Thor Delta L
February 14
03:27 GMT		 Proton 8K82K LC-81, Baikonur RVSN Luna 20 RVSN Lunar Lunar sample return February 21, 1972 (at Moon) Successful
February 22 Luna 20 ascent stage Luna 20
Apollonius highlands
The Moon		 RVSN Luna 20 RVSN Lunar Lunar sample return February 25, 1972 (Earth) Successful
March 3
01:49 GMT		 Atlas SLV-3C Centaur LC-36A, Cape Canaveral Pioneer 10 NASA Heliocentric to Solar Escape Jupiter flyby N/A Successful First spacecraft to cross asteroid belt
First flyby of Jupiter
First probe to leave Solar System
March 12
01:55 GMT		 Thor Delta N SLC-2E, Vandenberg AFB TD-1A ESRO LEO Technology research January 9, 1980 Successful Final flight of Thor Delta N
March 24
08:46 GMT		 Thor Burner II SLC-10W, Vandenberg AFB US Air Force DMSP 5B F2 US Air Force LEO Weather satellite Still in orbit Successful
April 16
17:45 GMT		 Saturn V LC-39A, Kennedy NASA Apollo 16 CSM "Casper"
3 astronauts		 NASA Lunar Crewed Lunar orbiter April 27, 1972 Successful Penultimate Moonshot
Apollo 16 lunar module "Orion" NASA Lunar Crewed Lunar landing April 20, 1972
14:23 GMT
(at Moon)		 Successful
Apollo 16 Subsatellite NASA Lunar Study lunar particles May 29, 1972 (at Moon) Partial Failure Deployed on April 24
Placed in wrong orbit, shorter lifespan than planned
April 19
21:43 GMT		 Thorad Agena-D SLV-2H SLC-3W, Vandenberg AFB US Air Force KH-4B 1116 US Air Force LEO Surveillance satellite May 12, 1972
April 23
23:26 GMT		 Apollo 16 lunar module "Orion" ascent stage Apollo 16 lunar module "Orion" descent stage
Descartes
The Moon		 NASA Apollo 16, 2 astronauts NASA Lunar Return Apollo 16 astronauts to CSM in orbit. Unknown Successful
May 25
18:41 GMT		 Thorad Agena-D SLV-2H SLC-3W, Vandenberg AFB US Air Force KH-4B 1117 US Air Force LEO Surveillance satellite June 4, 1972 Successful Final flight of Thorad Agena-D SLV-2H
June 13
21:53 GMT		 Atlas SLV-3C Centaur LC-36B, Cape Canaveral Intelsat 4 F-5 Intelsat Geosynchronous Comsat Still in orbit Successful
June 26
14:53 GMT		 R-7 11A511 (Soyuz/A-2) LC-1/5, Baikonur RVSN Kosmos 496 (Soyuz 7K-T) RVSN LEO Test redesigned Soyuz 7K-T spacecraft July 2, 1972 Successful
July 23
18:41 GMT		 Delta 0100 (0900) SLC-2W, Vandenberg AFB Landsat 1 NASA LEO Earth resources satellite Still in orbit Successful Maiden flight of Delta 0100
August 21
10:28 GMT		 Atlas SLV-3C Centaur LC-36B, Cape Canaveral OAO 3 NASA LEO Ultraviolet astronomy Still in orbit Successful Final flight of Atlas SLV-3C Centaur
September 23
01:20 GMT		 Delta 1000 (1604) LC-17B, Cape Canaveral Explorer 47 NASA HEO Magnetosphere research satellite Still in orbit Successful Maiden flight of Delta 1000
Maiden flight of Extended Long-Tank Thor
October 2
20:09 GMT		 Atlas F BMRS-A1, Vandenberg AFB US Air Force OPS 8180 (RADCAT) US Air Force LEO Technology research 2 August 2012 Successful
Radsat US Air Force LEO Technology research Still in orbit Successful
October 15
17:19 GMT		 Delta 0100 (0300) SLC-2W, Vandenberg AFB NOAA 2 (ITOS-B) NOAA LEO Weather satellite Still in orbit Successful
Amsat-Oscar 6 Amsat LEO Amateur comsat Still in orbit Successful
November 9
03:23 GMT		 Thor Burner II SLC-10W, Vandenberg AFB US Air Force DMSP 5B F3 US Air Force LEO Weather satellite Still in orbit Successful
November 10
01:14 GMT		 Delta 1000 (1914) LC-17B, Cape Canaveral Anik A1 Telesat Geosynchronous Comsat Still in orbit Successful
December 7
05:33 GMT		 Saturn V LC-39A, Kennedy NASA Apollo 17 CSM "America"
3 astronauts		 NASA Lunar Crewed Lunar orbiter December 19, 1971 Successful Final Moonshot
Final flight of Saturn V
Apollo 17 lunar module "Challenger" NASA Lunar Crewed Lunar landing December 14, 1971
GMT
(at Moon)		 Successful
December 11
07:56 GMT		 Delta 0100 (0900) SLC-2W, Vandenberg AFB Nimbus 5 NASA LEO Environmental research satellite Still in orbit Successful
December 14
22:55 GMT		 Apollo 17 lunar module "Challenger" ascent stage Apollo 17 lunar module "Challenger" descent stage
Taurus–Littrow
The Moon		 NASA Apollo 17, 2 astronauts NASA Lunar Return Apollo 17 astronauts to CSM in orbit. December 15, 1972 Successful
December 16
Scout Western Space and Missile Center at Vandenberg AFB NASA Aeros 1 NASA Successful
December 20
22:20 GMT		 Atlas-Agena SLV-3A LC-13, Cape Canaveral US Air Force OPS 9390 Canyon 5 US Air Force Geosynchronous Military Comsat Still in orbit Successful

Deep space rendezvous in 1972

References
Generic references:
 Spaceflight portal
  • Bergin, Chris. "NASASpaceFlight.com".
  • Clark, Stephen. "Spaceflight Now".
  • Kelso, T.S. "Satellite Catalog (SATCAT)". CelesTrak.
  • Krebs, Gunter. "Chronology of Space Launches".
  • Kyle, Ed. "Space Launch Report".
  • McDowell, Jonathan. "Jonathan's Space Report".
  • 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.
  • "Space Information Center". JAXA.
  • "Хроника освоения космоса" [Chronicle of space exploration]. CosmoWorld (in Russian).

Footnotes


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