1978 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.[1]

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
Rockets
RetirementsAtlas-Agena
Mu-3H
Crewed flights
Orbital5
Total travellers10

Launches
Date and time (UTC) Rocket Flight number Launch site LSP
Payload
(⚀ = CubeSat)		 Operator Orbit Function Decay (UTC) Outcome
Remarks
10 January
12:26:00		 Soyuz-U Baikonur Site 1/5
Soyuz 27 Low Earth (Salyut 6) Salyut 6 EP-116 March
11:18		Successful
Crewed flight with two cosmonauts
20 January
08:25		 Soyuz-U Baikonur Site 31/6
Progress 1 Low Earth (Salyut 6) Salyut 6 logistics8 February
02:00		Successful
Maiden flight of Progress spacecraft
2 March
15:28:10		 Soyuz-U Baikonur Site 1/5
Soyuz 28 Low Earth (Salyut 6) Salyut 6 EP-210 March
11:24		Successful
Crewed flight with two cosmonauts, first Czechoslovakian in space
20 May
13:13:00		 Atlas SLV-3D Centaur Cape Canaveral LC-36A
Pioneer Venus Orbiter NASA/ARC Cytherocentric Venus orbiter22 October 1992Successful
Entered 181.6 x 66,360-km orbit around Venus on 4 December 1978.
15 June
20:16:45		 Soyuz-U Baikonur Site 1/5
Soyuz 29 Low Earth (Salyut 6) Salyut 6 EO-231 September
11:40		Successful
Crewed flight with two cosmonauts
16 June
10:49		 Delta 2914 Cape Canaveral LC-17B
GOES 3 NOAA Geostationary WeatherIn orbitSuccessful
Decommissioned on 29 June 2016.
27 June
15:27:21		 Soyuz-U Baikonur Site 1/5
Soyuz 30 Low Earth (Salyut 6) Salyut 6 EP-35 July
13:30		Successful
Crewed flight with two cosmonauts, first Pole in space
8 August
07:33		 Atlas SLV-3D Centaur Cape Canaveral LC-36A
Pioneer Venus Multiprobe Bus NASA/ARC Heliocentric Venus atmospheric probe9 December 1978
20:22:55		Successful
Pioneer Venus Large Probe NASA/ARC Heliocentric Venus atmospheric probe9 December 1978
19:39:53		Successful
Pioneer Venus North Probe NASA/ARC Heliocentric Venus atmospheric probe9 December 1978
19:42:40		Successful
Pioneer Venus Night Probe NASA/ARC Heliocentric Venus atmospheric probe9 December 1978
19:52:07		Successful
Pioneer Venus Day Probe NASA/ARC Heliocentric Venus atmospheric probe9 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		 Delta 2914 Cape Canaveral LC-17B
International 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 researchIn orbitSuccessful
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		 Soyuz-U Baikonur Site 1/5
Soyuz 31 Low Earth (Salyut 6) Salyut 6 EP-42 November
11:04		Successful
Crewed flight with two cosmonauts, first East German in space
3 October
23:09:30		 Soyuz-U Baikonur Site 31/6
Progress 4 Low Earth (Salyut 6) Salyut 6 logistics26 October
16:28		Successful

Deep Space Rendezvous
Date (GMT) Spacecraft Event Remarks
4 DecemberPioneer Venus OrbiterCytherocentric orbit insertion
9 DecemberPioneer Venus MultiprobeVenerian atmospheric entryThe bus, one large and three small subprobes
21 DecemberVenera 12Venerian landing
25 DecemberVenera 11Venerian 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		 Vladimir Kovalyonok
Aleksandr 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:
 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
  1. Hughes, J (1996) Larousse Desk Reference Encloypedia London RD Press


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