| 1
9 6 0 |
(8 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in 44 missions = 18 %) |
| 1) |
| Mission: |
Korabl
Sputnik 1 |
| Launched: |
15 May
1960 at ~00h00 UT |
| Decayed: |
Main body: 5 September 1962
Capsule: 15 October 1965. |
| Duration: |
843 days / 1,979 days. |
| Ranks: |
1st Soviet |
| Result: |
Partial Failure |
|
First
orbital unmanned testflight of a Vostok ("East") spaceship (photo).
The primary goal of the mission was to test the basic elements of the vessel,
in particular its orientation system. The craft was not designed to be
recovered, it had no thermal shielding and no life-support system. The
flight was simply designated "Korabl Sputnik" (satellite-ship), offering
no indication that it had any relevance to a piloted spaceship; in the
West, it was called Sputnik 4. Planned to last 3 or 4 days, the flight
proceeded without incident with successful tests of the electrical and
power source systems. Reentry was scheduled for the early morning of 19
May. On the 64th orbit, the orientation system malfunctioned and, instead
of reentering Earth's atmosphere, the retrorockets boosted the capsule
into a higher orbit. |
| 2) |
| Mission: |
Korabl
Sputnik |
| Launched: |
28 July
1960 at 7h12 UT |
| Destroyed: |
28 July 1960
at 7h12 UT |
| Duration: |
28.5 seconds |
| Ranks: |
2nd Soviet |
| Result: |
Failure |
|
Second
unmanned testflight of a Vostok with the goal to complete a 24-hour mission
(photo). The craft was equipped
with an operational life-support system and a means of recovery. Two dogs,
Chayka and Lisichka, were onboard. But 19 seconds after launch, the booster
began to fork to one side as a result of a fire and a breakdown of the
combustion chamber in one of the four strap-on engines. The inert strap-on
broke away from the vehicle and the booster exploded at 28.5 seconds. Although
the capsule separated from the rocket, the explosion killed its passengers.
The problem with the launcher was easily identified and rectified, for
Soviet pressed on for another testflight a mere 18
days later! |
| 3) |
| Mission: |
Mercury-Atlas
1 / MA-1 |
| Launched: |
29 July
1960
at 14h13
UT / 9h13 EST |
| Destroyed: |
29 July 1960
at 14h16 UT / 9h16 EST |
| Duration: |
3 min. 18 sec. |
| Ranks: |
1st American |
| Result: |
Failure |
|
First
unmanned test of a Mercury capsule (photo).
The mission was expected to demonstrate that a capsule could live up to
its design expectations in a 16-minute test that would carry it to an altitude
of 181 km, at a speed of nearly 21,000 km/hr and bring it back to a splashdown
2,400 km from its launch pad. Heavy rain pelted the Cape early on the launch
morning, but the cloud ceiling rose high enough to be considered acceptable
for a launch. (Photo) But the rocket
was out of sight in seconds as it pierced the cloud cover, and could still
be heard roaring off in the distance. The initial phases of the launching
appeared to be normal until about a minute into the flight, at an altitude
of 9.75 km, as all telemetry ceased as the rocket broke up under the force
of maximum dynamic pressure. The flight was abruptly terminated sy approximately
58.5 seconds by an in-flight failure. Since the capsule separation systems
were not to be armed until three minutes after launch, therefore the capsule
remained attached to the Atlas until impact. It tumbled back to the Atlantic
12 km from the pad. The weather had been so bad that it prevented
visual and photographic coverage; “Solid cloud cover at the time of launch
precluded the use of optical records in the investigation of this failure.” |
| 4) |
| Mission: |
Korabl
Sputnik 2 |
| Launched: |
19 August
1960
at 8h44
UT / 11h44 MT |
| Recovered: |
20 August 1960
at 11h02 UT / 14h02 MT |
| Duration: |
1 d. 2 hr. 18 min. |
| Ranks |
3rd Soviet |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Third
orbital unmanned testfight of a Vostok (photo).
On the pilot's ejection seat (photo)
were placed 2 dogs (Strelka and Belka), 12 mice, insects, plants, fungi,
cultures, seeds of corn, wheat, peas, onions, microbes, strips of human
skin and other specimens. In addition, there were 28 mice and 2 white rats
in the capsule but outside the ejection seat. The craft was fully equipped
with a functioning catapult, a life-support system and parachutes. Upon
entering orbit, it was named the "Second Korabl Sputnik" (Sputnik 5, in
the West). Throughout the 1-day flight, doctors monitored the medical condition
of the dogs while various parameters of the life-support system were given
a rigorous workout. Because there were two cameras aboard, they were able
to observe the reactions of the dogs; the results were not encouraging.
Initially, the dogs appeared deathly still, and without the incoming data
stream on their life signs, it would have been impossible to tell if they
were alive or not. Later, they became more animated, but their movements
seemed convulsive. Belka squirmed and finally vomited on the fourth orbit.
Thus, doctors recommaned that a flight with a cosmonaut be limited to only
one orbit. On the 18th orbit, the backup orientation system performed without
anomalies and the capsule successfully entered Earth's atmosphere at the
correct angle. The catapult system ejected the dogs in the mock-up of the
ejection seat. The cabin landed safely by parachute only ten kilometers
from the designated point of touchdown. Belka and Strelka thus became the
first living beings recovered from orbit. The capsule itself was only the
second object retrieved from orbit (the American Discoverer
13 had preempted Korabl Sputnik 2 by only 9 days.)
Doctors found both dogs in good condition despite the concerns during the
mission; extensive physiological tests proved that there had been no fundamental
changes in their health. The flight verified almost all the primary elements
of the Vostok design. |
| 5) |
| Mission: |
Mercury-Redstone
1 / MR-1 |
| Launched: |
21 November
1960
at 14h00
UT / 9h00 EST |
| Stopped: |
21 November 1960
at 14h00 UT
/ 9h00 EST |
| Duration: |
1 second |
| Ranks: |
2nd American |
| Result: |
Failure |
|
Scheduled
as a suborbital unmanned testflight of a Mercury capsule (photo)
up to a 105-km high and a 370-km downrange. At the planned launch time,
the rocket engine fired, thundered for a second or two and then shut down.
The roar stopped as suddenly as it had started. Watching by periscope from
the blockhouse, the startled engineers saw the booster wobble slightly
on its pedestal and settle back on its fins after a four- or five-inch
liftoff (10-13 cm). (Photo) Then, the Mercury's
escape tower rocketed into the air and landed some 400 metres away. Three
seconds later, the drogue package shot upward, the main chute spurted out
of the top of the capsule followed by the reserve parachute, and both fluttered
down alongside the Redstone. It was as if Pandora's box had suddenly opened
and colored scarves were unfolding. With the booster destruct system still
armed, nobody could approach the Redstone until the batteries that powered
the system ran down next morning. It was later discovered that the engine
cut-off was caused by premature loss of electrical ground power to the
rocket.
Mercury-Redstone 1 was the most distressing, not to say embarrassing, failure
so far in Project Mercury. “November 21, 1960 marked the absolute nadir
of morale among all the men at work on Project Mercury. That was the day
the MR-1 countdown reached zero, and when all we did was to launch the
escape tower." (Photo) This mission
was subsequently nicknamed the “The
four-Inch Flight.“ |
| 6) |
| Mission: |
Korabl
Sputnik 3 |
| Launched: |
1 December
1960
at 7h26
UT |
| Burned up: |
2 December 1960
at ~10h35 UT |
| Duration: |
1 d. 3 hr. 9 min. |
| Ranks: |
4th Soviet |
| Result: |
Failure |
|
Fourth
unmanned testflight of a Vostok (photo).
The craft was inserted into the orbit planned for a piloted mission. Aboard
this “Third Korabl Sputnik” (Sputnik 6, in the West) were two dogs: Pchelka
and Mushka. The flight went well up to about a day in orbit when, on the
17th orbit, the retrorocket was to fire to initiate reentry. Unfortunately,
there was a malfunction in the stabilization system of the engine and the
resulting firing was far shorter than had been planned. Although the craft
would still reenter, computations showed that the landing would overshoot
Soviet territory. The spacecraft made one and a half more revolution, after
which the capsule separated from the rest of the vehicle. At this point,
a self-destruct system aboard went into operation and destroyed the spacecraft
along with its passengers. At the time, the Soviet press merely announced
that, because of the incorrect attitude, the capsule had burned up on reentry
- which is technically correct.... (Such a destruct system was only earmarked
on the Vostok precursor missions, not for any actual piloted craft.) |
| 7) |
| Mission: |
Mercury-Redstone
1A / MR-1A |
| Launched: |
19 December
1960
at 16h15
UT / 11h15 EST |
| Recoverd: |
19 December 1960 |
| Duration: |
15 min, 45 sec. |
| Ranks: |
3rd American |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Repeat
of the second unmanned suborbital testflight of a Mercury capsule (MR-1).
Objectives of the flight were to qualify the spacecraft for space flight
and to qualify the flight system for a primate flight scheduled shortly
thereafter. (Photo) As scheduled, the
rocket engine shut down at 2 minutes and 23 seconds into the flight, at
a speed of 7,812 km/hr. Coasting on up to 210 km, the capsule separated
from the top of the booster, turned around and made its reentry and descent
by parachute. It behaved perfectly in its attitude control and came down
along its predestined trajectory to impact 375 km from Cape Canaveral,
29 km beyond the desired target impact point. About 35 minutes after launch,
a Marine helicopter retrieved the capsule and returned it to the flight
deck of its carrier. This time, "the launching was an unqualified success." |
| 8 |
| Mission: |
Korabl
Sputnik |
| Launched: |
22 December
1960
at 7h45
UT / 10h45 MT |
| Recovered: |
22 December 1960 |
| Duration: |
425 seconds |
| Ranks: |
5th Soviet |
| Result: |
Partial Success |
|
Fifth
unmanned testflight of a Vostok (photo).
The craft carried two dogs: Kometa and Shutka, At launch, the first two
stages of the booster performed without fault, but the third stage engine
prematurely cut off at 425 seconds. The emergency escape system went into
operation and the capsule successfully separated as its flight trajectory,
described an arc across the Soviet Union. It reached an altitude of 214
kilometers and landed about 3,500 kilometres downrange, in one of the most
remote and inaccessible areas of Siberia. A search party was dispatched
and, on 24 December, they found themselves in waist-deep snow. Once the
team found the capsule, they had to approach it with great care because
the emergency explosive system was to automatically detonate the vehicle
60 hours after landing. By the time the rescuers reached the craft, it
had already been 60 hours, but the capsule had still not exploded, forcing
them to disengage the explosive. Although both hatches had been discarded,
the ejection seat had remained within the capsule, instead of ejecting
out with the dogs. (Later investigation showed that during ejection, the
seat had slammed into the side of the exit porthole and remained within
the craft.) The dogs were finally taken out, a little cold but alive, and
flown to safety. For its part, the capsule had to be drag through kilometres
of snow, and it was the first week of January 1961 before it arrived in
Moscow. |
| 1
9 6 1 |
(12 Civilian Piloted
Spaceships in 60 missions = 20 %) |
| 9) |
| Mission: |
Mercury-Redstone
2 / MR-2 |
| Launched: |
31 January 1961
at 16h54 UT / 11h54 EST |
| Recovered: |
31 January 1961
17h12 TU / /12h12 EST |
| Duration: |
16 min. 39 sec. |
| Ranks: |
4th American |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Third
suborbital unmanned testflight of a Mercury capsule (photo).
The mission was scheduled for a high point of 185 km and a downrange splashdown
487 km from the launch pad. Onboard was a 17-kg chimpanzee named Ham (photo).
During the powered phase of the flight (photo),
the rocket thrust was considerably higher than planned. In addition, the
early depletion of its liquid oxygen supply, nearly at the time of engine
cutoff, triggered the abort system, sending the capsule further up to an
apogee of 253 km (68 km higher than planned).
Onboard, Ham endured weightless for 6.6 minutes (instead of 4.9 minutes).
(During this phase, onboard cameras recorded a surprising amount of dust
and debris floating around inside the capsule.) At waist level in the chimpanzee's
couch was a dashboard with two lights and two levers; Ham knew well how
to avoid a series of electrical shocks by actionning the levers on time.
During all the flight, he was stable and working his levers perfectly,
pushing the continuous avoidance lever about 50 times and receiving only
two shocks for bad timing. On the discrete avoidance lever, his score was
perfect. Reaction time averaged .82 second, compared with a preflight performance
of .8 second.
The capsule then re-entered at a faster speed, taking it 212 km further
downrange from where the recovery forces were waiting. Ham received a load
of nearly 15 G (instead of 12 G). Soon after impact into the Atlantic,
the capsule punctured and capsized. Ham was in serious danger of drowning
by the time helicopters arrived an hour later. The capsule was slowly raised
from the ocean as water poured from the hull like the cascade from a punctured
water-can. Ham was safe, but emotionally disturbed by his experience. On
the deck of the carrier, he readily accepted an apple and half an orange.
(Photo) But back at Cape Canaveral,
the surge of eager newsmen upset the fraught chimp, who became aggressive
and threatening at the noisy, unruly crowd. Calmed by trainers, he
again displayed agitation when taken back to spacecraft. (Photo) |
| 10)) |
| Mission: |
Mercury-Atlas
2 / MA-2 |
| Launched: |
21 February 1961
at 14h12 UT / 9h12 EST |
| Recovered: |
21 February 1961
at 14h30 UT / 9h30 EST |
| Duration: |
17 min. 56 sec. |
| Ranks: |
5th American |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Fourtth
suborbital unmanned testflight of a Mercury capsule (photo).
It followed a flight path essentially the same as that for MA-1
to check maximum heating and its effects during the worst reentry design
conditions. A collective relief spread about one minute after liftoff when
it was announced that the booster had gone through max q intact. (Photo)
The flight closely matched the desired trajectory and attained a maximum
altitude of 183 km and a range of 2,300 km. Hhelicopters were dispatched
to pick up the capsule after only 24 minutes in the water. Its inspection
aboard the recovery ship some 55 minutes after launch indicated that test
objectives were met, since the structure and heat protection elements appeared
to be in excellent condition. This was a magnificent flight, "nominal in
nearly every respect." |
| 11) |
| Mission: |
Korabl
Sputnik 4 |
| Launched: |
9 March 1961
at 6h29 UT / 9h29 MT |
| Recovered: |
9 March 1961
at 8h15 UT / 11h15 MT |
| Duration: |
1 hr. 46 min. |
| Ranks: |
6th Soviet |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Sixth
orbital unmanned testflight of a Vostok (photo).
This first human-rated craft, called the “Fourth Korabi-Sputnik” in the
Soviet press (or Sputnik 7, in the West), carried the dog Chernushka and
40 white and 40 black mice, several guinea pigs, reptiles, plant seeds,
human blood samples, human cancer cells, micro-organisms, bacteria, and
fermentation samples. Unlike the previous flights, the ejection seat was
taken up by a life-sized mannequin (“Ivan lvanovich” photo)
fully dressed in a functional spacesuit. Additional mice, guinea pigs,
microbes and other biological specimens were placed in the mannequin's
chest, stomach, thighs and other parts of the body. One of the main purpose
of the mission was to ensure reception of voice transmissions from the
ship, so the dummy emit a taped popular Russian choir. In rehearsal for
the exact sequence of events of an actual piloted flight, the retrorocket
fired on time at the end of the first orbit. Ten seconds later, the instrument
section separated from the capsule, the latter making a ballistic reentry.
The mannequin was safely ejected out, while the capsule with the dog landed
by parachute. The mission was a complete success. |
| -- |
| Mission: |
Mercury-Redstone
BD / MR-BD |
| Launched: |
24 March 1961 at 12h30 EST |
| No recovery |
|
| Duration: |
n/a |
| Ranks: |
n/a |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Booster test (with only a Mercury
boilerplate model) to correct minor problems that occured as MR-1A
and MR-2 overpowered. Modifications were made to the
thrust regulator and velocity integrator in hopes that booster would be
physically incapable of exceeding the speed limit again. And to diminish
harmonic vibrations induced by aerodynamic stress, four stiffeners were
added to the ballast section and insulation was applied to the inner skin.
Also, to test procedures for the launch pad rescue crews, a manned M-113
armored personnel carrier was parked only 300 metres from the launch pad.
The firemen in this vehicle were going to endure bone-jangling noise and
vibration during the launch to see how much emergency rescue crews could
stand.
When
the MR-BD lifted off (photo), the people
in the armored vehicle watched it all without discomfort. Although the
actual exit velocity was a little bit higher than planned, there was hardly
a difference between the actual and the nominal trajectory. The booster
impacted in the Atlantic 494 km downrange (8 km short of the plan) and
sank to the bottom. The testflight was highly successful, demonstrating
that all major booster problems have been eliminated. The Redstone was
now trustworthy enough to be called "man-rated.” MR-BD might have been
the first piloted flight had it been the MR-3,
as originally scheduled. But the decision of a month before froze the Mercury-Redstone
schedule for at least two months afterward. And the Mercury team, aware
of but not dominated by the space race, could only hope that the "Sputnik
Spacecraft Team" was having comparable final checkout difficulties... |
| 12) |
| Mission: |
Korabl
Sputnik 5 |
| Launched: |
25 March 1961
at 5h54 UT / 8h54 NT |
| Recovered: |
25 March 1961
at 7h40 UT / 10h40 MT |
| Duration: |
1 hr. 56 min. |
| Ranks: |
7th Soviet |
| Result: |
Succees |
|
Seventh
(and last) orbital unmanned testflight of a Vostok (photo).
This “Fifth Korabi Sputnik” (Sputnik 8) carried another managery of animals
and biological samples, including the dog Zvezdochka, on a single-orbit
mission. The flight was uneventful, and all reentry procedures were conducted
without problems. As with several of the previous missions, the recovery
was delayed by bad weather; the capsule and the ejection seat landed during
a heavy snowstorm, causing difficulties in locating the exact touchdown
point.
Three days later, on 28 March, Academy of Sciences Vice-President Aleksandr
Topchiyev summarized the results of the five official Korabi Sputnik flights
in a press conference in Moscow. Six of Strelka's pups,
as well as four other space dogs, were on exhibit as evidence and harbingers
of the imminent flight of man into space. In attendance were not only Soviet
and foreign journalists, but also Gagarin, Titov and other cosmonauts.
Of course, no one had any knowledge that one of them was slated to fly
in a spacecraft within 15 days. But, on 10 April, foreign correspondents
in Moscow reported rampant rumors sweeping the city that the U.S.S.R. had
placed a man into space. |
| 13) |
| Mission: |
Vostok |
| Launched: |
12 April 1961
at 6h07 UT / 9h07 MT |
| Recovered: |
12 April 1961
at 7h55 UT / 10h55 MT |
| Duration: |
1 hr. 48 min. (World record) |
| Crew: |
Plt Gagarin |
| Ranks: |
8th Soviet
(1st
human spaceflight, 1st Soviet) |
| Result: |
Success |
| Note: |
Note: Gagarin was on top
of the 17th 8K72 “Vostok”
launcher; half of the previous
16 launches had failed! |
|
The first piloted mission.
Seconds before liftoff, the 27-year-old pilot Gagarin's pulse rate reached
an excited 157 beats per minute. For the first few minutes after launch,
he reported feeling the G-loads on him rise, but he gave no indication
of any lack of comfort. At about five G's, he reported some difficulty
in talking, saying that all the muscles in his face were drawn and strained.
During the powered flight, Gagarin's pulse reached a maximum of 150 beats
per minute. Orbital insertion occurred after 11 minutes and 16 seconds
of powered flight; for the first time in history, a human being had entered
outer space. The orbit was some 70 km higher than planned, indicating a
poor performance by the launcher. Gagarin reported that he was feeling
excellent and vividly described what he saw outside his porthole: “In weightlessness,
you feel as if you are suspended. I got used to it and had no unpleasant
sensations.” He spent most of his time observing through the porthole and
the systems in its spacecraft. He also ate and drank normally. No experiments
were planned for the mission and no anomalies were detected during his
time in orbit. After one revolution, the ship was oriented to the proper
attitude and its retrorocket successfully fired. There was a sharp jolt
and the craft began to rotate around its axis at a very high velocity:
“head, then feet, head, then feet, rotating rapidly.” Normally, the
instrument section of the craft was soon to separate from the spherical
capsule. but it was at this point that the only major malfunction occurred
on the mission: there was no separation. The capsule and its instrument
section remained loosely connected by a few cables. Although the situation
was of serious concern, Gagarin's life was not in jeopardy (as suggested
by some Western analysts when this incident was finally revealed in 1991).
Gagarin remained remarkably calm. Separation finally occurred ten minutes
later than intended, saving the craft from a dangerous tumbling reentry.
“Suddenly, a bright purple light appeared in the porthole. I heard crackling
sounds. Next, the overloads began to rise gradually. The ball was constantly
oscillating along all axes… I felt that the load factor reached about 10
G. There was a moment for about 2 or 3 seconds when the instrument readings
became blurred. My vision became somewhat greyish…” At an altitude of 7
km, the capsule parachutes opened and the hatch shot off. Two seconds later,
Gagarin was ejected from the capsule. Looking down at the land, he immediately
recognized the region where he had jumped many times in training. His personal
parachute opened and he landed softly in a field. His first concern was
to report that he was safe. (Later, Gagarin was forced to lie about the
fact that he parachuted out of his capsule because international standards
for aerospace record stipulate that the passenger must take off and land
in the same vehicle.) Since the news out of the Soviet Union was neither
crisp nor very detailed, for a few days a great deal of speculation over
conflicting reports, fuzzy photographs, and the lack of eyewitnesses encouraged
some who wished to believe that Gagarin's flight had not occurred. |
| 14) |
| Mission: |
Mercury-Atlas
3 / MA-3 |
| Launched: |
25 April 1961
at 16h15 UT / 11h15 EST |
| Recovered: |
25 April 1961
at 16h22 UT / 11h22 EST |
| Duration: |
7 min. 19 sec. |
| Ranks: |
6th American |
| Result: |
Partial Success |
|
First
unmanned orbital testflight of a Mercury capsule. The spacecraft carried
a "mechanical astronaut." an electronic mannequin that could "inhale"
and "exhale" man-like quantities of gas, heat and water vapor. But seconds
after lift-off, the launch vehicle failed to roll to a 70° heading
and to pitch over into the proper trajectory. It was thus destroyed by
the range safety officer after only 40 seconds of flight. However, the
Mercury escape system worked perfectly and the recovery team responded
exactly as if there had been a pilot's life at stake. The capsule reached
an altitude of 7.3 km, it then deployed its parachutes and splasdown in
the Atlantic some 2 km north of its launch pad. It came through this relatively
easy abort with only minor damages and was thus quickly recovered and refurbished
for reuse on MA-4. |
| 15) |
| Mission: |
Mercury
3 (MR-3 /
Mercury-Redstone
3) |
| Launched: |
5 May 1961
at 14h35 UT / 9h35 EST |
| Recovered: |
5 May 1961
at 14h50 UT / 9h50 EST |
| Duration: |
15 min. 28 sec. |
| Crew: |
Plt Shepard |
| Ranks: |
7th American
(2nd
human spaceflight,
1st American) |
| Result: |
Success |
|
First Mercury manned suborbital
flight. The 37-year-old pilot Shepard had been onboardFreedom
7 four hours and 14 minutes when his 15-minute
flight began. His pulse rate rose to 126 at the liftoff signal. He raised
his hand to start the elapsed-time clock that ticked off the seconds of
the flight. The Redstone performed well during the boosted phase,
although there were some vibrations, and cutoff was well within specified
limits. The buffeting became rugged at the point
of maximum aerodynamic pressures, about 88 seconds into the flight; Shepard's
head and helmet were bouncing so hard that he could not read his panel
dials. Pressed by 6 G at two minutes after launch, Shepard still was able
to report "all systems go." He spend approximately 5 minutes in
weightlessness. Now almost at the top of his suborbital
trajectory, he went to work on his most important task, determining whether
an astronaut could control his spacecraft's attitude. When Shepard assumed
control of all three axes, he was pleased to find that the feel was about
the same as in the Mercury simulator. When he tried to carry out another
of his flight objectives, observing the scene below him, Shepard immediately
noticed that the periscope had the medium gray filter in place. He observed
the wondrous sights below through the gray slide. Shepard was able to distinguish
clearly the continental land masses from the cloud masses. After
separation, he exercised manual control of the spacecraft in the fly-by-wire
and manual proportional modes. The attitude control system operated well,
with few thruster fuel leaks. Reentry and landing were accomplished without
any difficulty. During the flight, the spacecraft attained a maximum speed
of 8,335 km/h, rose to an altitude of 187 km and splashdown 486 km downrange
from Cape Canaveral. The pilot experienced a maximum of 6 G during the
booster acceleration phase and slightly less than 12 G upon reentry. Recovery
operations were perfect, as helicopters were able visually to follow the
descent of the capsule. There was no damage to the spacecraft and Shepard
was in excellent condition. The flight was a success. |
| 16) |
| Mission: |
Mercury
4 (MR-4 /
Mercury-Redstone
4) |
| Launched: |
21 July 1961
at 12h20 UT / 7h20 EST |
| Recovered: |
21 July 1961
at 12h36 UT / 7h36 EST |
| Duration: |
15 min. 37 sec. |
| Crew: |
Plt Grissom |
| Ranks: |
8th American
(3rd
human spaceflight,
2nd American) |
| Result: |
Success |
|
This
second Mercury suborbital manned flight was launched with the 35-year-old
pilot Grissom onboard a capsule designated Liberty Bell 7. From lift-off
to reentry, operational sequences were similar to those of Mercury
3. Grissom later admitted that he was "a bit scared" at liftoff, but
that he soon gained confidence along the ascension. Like Shepard, he was
amazed at the smooth quality of the liftoff, but then he noticed gradually
more severe vibrations, but never violent enough to impair his vision.
By his window, he noticed a sudden change in the color of the horizon,
from light blue to jet black. At 2 minutes and 22 seconds, the Redstone's
engine cut off after building a velocity of 5,979 km/h. Grissom had a strong
sensation of tumbling during the transition from high to zero G and, for
a moment, he lost his bearings. He never caught sight of his launch vehicle.
He then assumed manual control and found it easy to control his spacecraft’s
attitude. But a constant urge to look out the window made concentrating
on his tasks difficult. He radioed that the panorama of Earth's horizon,
presenting a 1,300 km arc at peak altitude, was fascinating. Some land
beneath the clouds appeared in the hazy distance, but Grissom was unable
to identify it. Suddenly, Cape Canaveral came into view so clearly that
Grissom found it hard to believe that he was 240 km away. These observations
got him behind in his work procedures. With Liberty Bell 7 at a peak altitude
of 190 km, it was now time to position it in its reentry attitude. He tried
to see the stars out his observation window. Instead the glare of sunlight
filled his capsule, making it difficult to read the panel dials. Grissom
spent 5 minute in weightlessness and reported no ill effects. He then initiated
the retrorocket sequence and the capsule was arcing downward. His pulse
reached 171 beats per minute. Reentry presented no problem. Parachute deployed
on schedule and Grissom felt some resulting pulsating motion, but not enough
to worry him. Impact, some 480 km downrange, was milder than he had expected,
although the capsule heeled over in the water. "I was lying there, minding
my own business, when I heard a dull thud." The hatch cover blew away and
salt water swished into the capsule. Suddenly, Grissom was faced with a
serious emergency: Liberty Bell 7 was sinking fast! He had difficulty
recollecting his actions at this point, but he was certain that he had
not touched the hatch-activation plunger. He scurried out the sloshing
hatchway. Floating in the sea, he was thankful that he had unbuckled himself
earlier from most of his harness, as otherwise he might not have been able
to abandon ship. Once out, he swam away.
Instead of turning their attention to Grissom, the helicopter pilots approached
the sinking capsule. They were having difficulty raising the submerged
craft. Then, Grissom suddenly realized that he was not riding as
high in the water as he had been. Swimming was becoming difficult. Bobbing
under the waves, he was now scared, angry and looking for a swimmer to
help him tread water. Suddenly, he received a "horse-collar" lifeline from
a second helicopter. He immediately wrapped himself into the sling backwards
and soon, he was on his way to safety onboard the helicopter. His first
thought was to get a life preserver on. Grissom had been in the water for
only four or five minutes, "although it seemed like an eternity to me,"
he said afterward. The first helicopter struggled valiantly to raise the
capsule high enough to drain the water from it. Once the capsule was almost
clear of the water, it weighed 500 kilos beyond the helicopter's lifting
capacity. The pilots decided not to chance losing two craft in one day
and finally cast loose, allowing the capsule to sink swiftly at the bottom
of the ocean. On the carrier deck, Grissom was extremely tired but
he elected to proceed with his preliminary debriefing. |
| 17) |
| Mission: |
Vostok
2 |
| Launched: |
6 August 1961
at 6h00 UT / 9h00 MT |
| Recovered: |
7 August 1961
at 7h10 UT / 10h08 MT |
| Duration: |
1 d. 1 hr. 18 min..(World record) |
| Crew: |
Plt Titov |
| Ranks: |
9th Soviet
(4th
human, 2nd Soviet) |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Second manned orbital flight
of a Vostok spaceship with the 25-year-old pilot Titov. The launch occurred
without problem as the rocket performance normally. But immediately after
entering orbit, Titov began to feel disoriented, as if he was flying upside
down and turning in a somersault. He was in a "strange fog," unable to
distinguish Earth from the sky or to read his instrument panel. The unpleasant
sensations continued to grow, and by the second orbit, he even briefly
contemplated asking permission to return to Earth. Doctors on the ground
were aware of the situation and on the third orbit, they inquired about
his general condition; Titov reported "Everything is in order." He
decided to take his first meal in space during his sixth orbit, a three-course
lunch in paste form delivered in tubes. Television pictures showed him
with soup puree, liver pâté and black currant jam in plastic
dispensers. He elected not to eat much, and only squeezed some black currant
juice into his mouth, which eventually made him vomit. After a short rest,
he conducted some experiments, manually firing the attitude control jets
on the spacecraft. He encountered no problems during the two occasions
he took over manual control. But he was still having a difficult time maintaining
a sense of balance. The scope of his discomfort was fairly serious and
included vertigo, nausea, aches in the head and eyes, disorders of the
vestibular system and loss of appetite. Passing over Moscow 9 hours and
15 minutes into his flight, Titov announced: "Now, I'm going to lie down
and sleep. You can think what you want, but I'm going to sleep.” Except
for two minor wake up, he rested peacefully for 8 hours, even oversleeping
by about 35 minutes. Unfortunately, he felt just as worse after waking
up. He tried some cursory experiments, such as handwriting, opening and
shutting his eyes, and testing coordination. His reflexes were much better
than during the first portion of the flight, although the "strange fog"
was still with him. He drank a little liquid chocolate, but immediately
regurgitated what little food he had in his stomach. For inexplicable reasons,
he began to feel better at the end of his twelfth orbit and, by the later
orbits, he was completely functional and fully fit. Titov used a movie
camera to take a 10-minute-long movie of Earth's horizon; the results were
fairly impressive and they were later showed in the Soviet media amid much
fanfare. During the mission, there were no major technical anomalies. After
retrofire, Titov heard a loud crack, indicating that the two compartments
of Vostok had separated. But soon after, he realized that the instrument
section was still attached to the capsule by several straps. The two wobbling
modules reentered Earth's atmosphere, with the instrument section eventually
burning up. Titov ejected safely from his capsule and landed without further
incident. He was in a fit of euphoria after landing and on the flight back,
he talked excitedly about his flight. In complete violation of rules, he
opened up a beer and downed it quickly. During debriefing, he was candid
about all health problems he had encountered, describing in great detail
his experience with motion sickness. But none of this was reported to the
public at the time. |
| 18) |
| Mission: |
Mercury-Atlas
4 / MA-4 |
| Launched: |
13 September 1961
at 14h04 UT / 9h04 EST |
| Recovered: |
13 September 1961
at 10h55 EST |
| Duration: |
1 hr. 49 min. 20 sec. |
| Ranks: |
|
| Result: |
Success |
|
Second
orbital unmanned testflight of a Mercury capsule; the first Mercury spacecraft
to achieve orbit. The capsule carried a mechanical crewman simulator. During
the first 20 seconds from liftoff, fairly severe booster vibrations occurred
but the booster passed its max-q test. The powered phase provided a velocity
of 23,426 km/h, G loads during the powered phase reached a peak of 7.6.
After separation from its booster, the capsule made a turnaround maneuver
to reverse its ends to heatshield forward. Throughout the flight, the crewman
simulator used oxygen to produce moisture and carbon dioxide, and it recorded
heat and suit pressure changes. Onboard computers indicated that the mission
could go for more than seven orbits. Communications between the capsule
and the tracking stations were good, especially on high frequencies, which
on the earlier suborbital flights had been virtually unsuccessful. Retrofire,
triggered by the spacecraft clock, went as planned and the capsule was
in the proper reentry attitude. It splashed down east of Bermuda. During
the one-orbit mission, only three slight deviations were noted: a small
leak in the oxygen system, loss of voice contact over Australia, and the
failure of an inverter in the environmental control system..Overall, the
flight was highly successful: the Atlas booster performed well and demonstrated
that it was ready for the manned flight, the spacecraft systems operated
well, and the Mercury global tracking network and telemetry operated in
an excellent manner and was ready to support manned orbital flight. NASA
officials concluded that a man would have survived the flight. |
| 19) |
| Mission: |
Mercury-Scout
1 / MS-1 |
| Launched: |
1 November 1961 at 15h32 UT |
| Destroyed: |
1 November |
| Duration: |
43 seconds. |
| Ranks: |
10th
American |
| Result: |
Failure |
|
This
flight was intend to orbit a communications package to qualify the radar
tracking of the Mercury global network prior to manned orbital flight.
The payload consisted a small rectangular box containing a C- and S-band
beacon, two minitrack beacons, two command receivers and two telemetry
transmitters, all with antennas. It was to function for 18½ hours
in orbit, to provide data equivalent to three full missions, to gather
a wealth of information for comparison, and to give the Department Of Defense
and NASA trackers a good workout. But immediately after liftoff, the launcher
developed erratic motions and, after 28 seconds, it began tearing apart.
The range safety officer gave the destruct signal 43 seconds after launch.
The failure, it was later determined, resulted from a personal error by
a technician who had transposed the connectors between the pitch and yaw
rate gyros, so that yaw rate error signals were transmitted to pitch control,
and vice versa. So, six months of plans and labors had disintegrated in
less than a minute. No further such testflight were planned since the Mercury-Atlas
4 and 5 missions confirmed that the network met all requirements. |
| 20) |
| Mission: |
Mercury-Atlas
5 / MA-5 |
| Launched: |
29 November 1961
at 15h08 UT / 10h08 EST |
| Recovered: |
29 November 1961
at 18h29 UT / 13h29 EST |
| Duration: |
3 hr. 20 min. 59 sec. |
| Ranks: |
11th
American |
| Result: |
sUCCESS |
|
The second
(and final) orbital qualification testflight of the Mercury capsule prior
to manned flight. It was launched with the 17-kg chimpanzee Enos onboard.
The ascent phase went well, with the guidance system keeping the booster
on an almost perfect insertion trajectory. At engine cutoff, the velocity,
flight angle and altitude were nearly perfect. Enos fared well as he withstood
a peak of 7.6 G during liftoff. During the flight, he pulled correctly
his levers and was rewarded with measures of water and banana pellets.
However, the center lever malfunctioned, causing shocks even if the chimp
pulled the correct lever. Event if Enos received 79 shocks, he nevertheless
kept pulling the levers. At the end of the first orbit, the capsule environmental
control system malfunction and temperatures were rising; Enos' body temperature
climbed to 38°. Then, the craft began to deviate from its attitude.
The engineers felt that there simply was not enough attitude fuel left
to complete the third orbit and only 12 seconds before the retrofire point
was reached for the second-orbit primary recovery point, Flight Director
decided to bring the craft back to Earth. Reentry went according to plan
and the capsule splasdowned at the predicted impact point southeast of
Bermuda. Enos had been weightless for 181 minutes and had performed his
psychomotor duties with aplomb. Upon recovery, he was found to be in excellent
physical condition. The flight was termed highly successful since the two
inflight failutres could have been corrected had an astronaut been onboard.
Thus, tyhe Mercury spacecraft was considered qualified to support manned
orbital flight. |
| 1
9 6 2 |
(5 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in 96 missions = 5 %) |
| 21) |
| Mission: |
Mercury
6 (MA-6 /
Mercury-Atlas
6) |
| Launched: |
20 February 1962 at 14h48 UT
(9h48 EST) |
| Recovered: |
20 February 1962 19h43 (14h43
EST) |
| Duration: |
4 h. 55 min. 23 sec. |
| Crew: |
Glenn |
| Ranks: |
12th
American
(5th
human, 3rd American) |
| Result:: |
Success |
|
Piloted (1 crewmember):
3-orbit, 5-hour mission (Glenn).
A 60- by 90-cm “stainless steel”
metal fragment, part of the Atlas booster, was found on a farm in South
Africa on February 21. Four fragments were recovered on Earth, the first
pieces known to have re-entered from an orbiting object without burning
up. Local reports of an explosion about 1:00 on 21 February indicated
that the fragment came to Earth after about 8 hours in orbit. |
| 22) |
| Mission: |
Mercury
7 (MA-7 /
Mercury-Atlas
7) |
| Launched: |
24 May 1962 at 12h45 UT (7h45
EST) |
| Recovered: |
24 May 1962 at 17h41 (12h41
EST) |
| Duration: |
4 hr. 56 min. 5 sec. |
| Crew: |
Carpenter |
| Ranks: |
13th
American
(6th
human, 4th American) |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Piloted (1 crewmember): 3-orbit,
5-hour mission (Carpenter).
Metal fragments resembling top
of gasoline drum, thoughtto have fallen from the Atlas booster, were discovered
near Barkly East, South Africa. |
| 23) |
| Mission: |
Vostok
3 |
| Launched: |
11 August 1962
at 8h30 UT / 11h30 MT |
| Recovered: |
15 August 1962
at 6h34 UT / 9h34 MT |
| Duration: |
3 d. 22 hr. 10 min. (World
record) |
| Crew: |
Nikolaïev |
| Ranks: |
10th
Soviet
(7th
human, 3rd Soviet) |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Piloted (1 crewmember): 4-day
mission (Nikolayev). First dual flight (with Vostok 4). |
| 24) |
| Mission: |
Vostok
4 |
| Launched: |
12 August 1962
at 8h02 UT / 11h02 MT |
| Recovered: |
15 August 1962
at 6h47 TU / 9h47 MT |
| Duration: |
2 d. 22 hr. 45 min. |
| Crew: |
Popovitch |
| Ranks |
11th
Soviet
(8th
human, 4th Soviet) |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Piloted (1 crewmember): 3-day
mission (Popovich). Launched only one day after Vostok 3 and passed within
a few kilometers of the spaceship. |
| 25) |
| Mission: |
Mercury
8 (MA-8 /
Mercury-Atlas
8) |
| Launched: |
3 October 1962 at 12h15 UT
(7h15 EST) |
| Recovered: |
3 October 1962 at 21h28 UT
(16h28 EST) |
| Duration: |
9 hr. 13 min. 11 sec. |
| Crew: |
Schirra |
| Ranks: |
14th
American
(9th
human, 5th American) |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Piloted (1 crewmember): 9-hour
mission (Schirra). |
| 1
9 6 3 |
(3 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in 97 missions = 3 %) |
| 26) |
| Mission: |
Mercury
9 (MA-9 / Mercury-Atlas 9) |
| Launched: |
15 May 1963 at 13h04 UT (8h04
EST) |
| Recovered: |
16 May 1963 at 23h24 UT (18h24
EST) |
| Duration: |
1 d. 10 hr. 19 min. 49 sec. |
| Crew: |
Cooper |
| Ranks: |
15th
American
(10 human,
6th American) |
| Result:: |
Success |
|
Piloted (1 crewmember):
1½-day mission (Cooper). |
| 27) |
| Mission: |
Vostok
5 |
| Launched: |
14 June 1963 at 11h58 UT |
| Recovered: |
19 June 1963 |
| Duration: |
(World record) |
| Ranks: |
12th
Soviet
(11th
human, 5th Soviet) |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Piloted (1 crewmember): 5-day
mission (Bykovsky). Dual mission with Vostok 6. |
| 28) |
| Mission: |
Vostok
6 |
| Launched: |
16 June 1963 at 9h29 UT |
| Recovered: |
19 June 1963 |
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
13th
Soviet
(12th
human, 6th Soviet) |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Piloted (1 crewmember): 3-day
mission for first female cosmonaut (Terechkova). |
| 1
9 6 4 |
(3 piloted Spaceships
in 127 missions = 2 %) |
| 29) |
| Mission: |
Gemini
1 |
| Launched: |
8 Apr 64 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
16th
American |
| Result:: |
Success |
|
Unmanned
test: 5-hour testflight, no recovery. |
| 30) |
|
Unmanned
test: 1-day testflight of Voskhod three-seater spaceship. |
| 31) |
| Mission: |
Voskhod |
| Launched: |
12 Oct 64 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
15th
Soviet
(13th
human,7th Soviet) |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Piloted (3 crewmembers): first
three-crewmember mission (1 day). |
| 1
9 6 5 |
(9 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in 180 missions = 5 %) |
| 32) |
| Mission: |
Gemini
2 |
| Launched: |
19 Jan 65 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
17th
American |
| Result:: |
Success |
|
Unmanned
test: suborbital testflight (apogee: 169 km). |
| 33) |
|
Unmanned
test: EVA-Voskhod testflight, spacecraft accidentally autodestrucked. |
| 34) |
| Mission: |
Voskhod
2 |
| Launched: |
18 Mar 65 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
17th
Soviet
(14th
human, 8th Soviet) |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Piloted (2 crewmembers): first
EVA (Leonov), first two-cremmember mission, a very turbulent flight. |
| 35) |
| Mission: |
Gemini
3 / Gemini III |
| Launched: |
23 Mar 65 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks |
18th
American
(15th
human, 7th American) |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Piloted (2 crewmembers): 5-hour
testflight of Gemini capsule. |
| 36) |
| Mission: |
Gemini
4 |
| Launched: |
3 Jun 65 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
19th
American
(16th
human, 8th American) |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Piloted (2 crewmembers): first
U.S. EVA (White), longuest American mission to dare (4 days). |
| 37) |
| Mission: |
Gemini
5 |
| Launched: |
21 Aug 65 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
20th
American
(17th
human, 9th American) |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Piloted (2 crewmembers): 8-day
mission (longuest spaceflight to date). |
| 38) |
| Mission: |
GATV
6 |
| Launched: |
25 Oct 65 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
21st
American |
| Result: |
Failure |
|
Rendezvous target: launch failed. |
| -- |
| Mission: |
Gemini
VI |
| Launched: |
(25 Oct 65) |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
n/a |
| Result: |
n/a |
|
Piloted (2 crewmembers): mission
cancelled following the loss of GATV 6. |
| 39) |
| Mission: |
Gemini
7 |
| Launched: |
4 Dec 65 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
22nd
American
(18th
human, 10th American) |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Piloted (2 crewmembers): 14-day
mission (longuest to date). |
| 40) |
| Mission: |
Gemini
VI-A |
| Launched: |
15 Dec 65 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
23rd
American
(19th
human, 11th American) |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Piloted (2 crewmembers): first
rendezvous (with Gemini 7). A very short-notice success. |
| 1
9 6 6 |
(15 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in 174 missions = 9 %) |
| 41) |
| Mission: |
Apollo
AS-201 |
| Launched: |
26 Feb 66 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
24th
American |
| Result:: |
Success |
|
Unmanned
test: suborbital testflight, recovered. |
| 42) |
| Mission: |
GATV
8 / TDA 3 |
| Launched: |
16 Mar 66 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
25th
American |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Rendezvous target, docked by
Gemini VIII. |
| 43) |
| Mission: |
Gemini
VIII |
| Launched: |
16 Mar 66 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
26th
American
(20th
human, 12th American) |
| Result: |
Partial Success |
|
Piloted (2 crewmembers): first
docking (with GATV 8), mission cut short following attitude control problems,
crew saved. |
| 44) |
| Mission: |
GATV
9 / TDA 5 |
| Launched: |
17 May 66 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks |
27th
American |
| Result: |
Failure |
|
Rendezvous target, launch failed.
(Gemini IX mission cancelled.) |
| 45) |
| Mission: |
ATDA
/ TDA 4 |
| Launched: |
1 Jun 66 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
28th
American |
| Result: |
Failure |
|
Rendezvous target: unavailable
for docking following fairing separation failure (the craft was nicknamed
the "Angry alligator"). |
| 46) |
| Mission: |
Gemini
IX-A |
| Launched: |
3 Jun 66 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
29th
American
(21st
human, 13th American) |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Piloted (2 crewmembers): rendezvous
with ATDA (did
not docked). Third EVA (Cernan),
nearly a failure. |
| 47) |
| Mission: |
GATV
10 / TDA 1A |
| Launched: |
18 Jul 66 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
30th
American |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Rendezvous target, docked by
Gemini X. |
| 48) |
| Mission: |
Gemini
X |
| Launched: |
18 Jul 66 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
31st
American
(22nd
human, 14th American) |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Piloted (2 crewmembers): docked
with two GATV and accomplish two EVA - a very complex and successful mission. |
| 49) |
| Mission: |
Apollo
AS-202 |
| Launched: |
25 Aug 66 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
32nd
American |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Unmanned
test: 1½-hour suborbital testflight, recovered. |
| 50) |
| Mission: |
GATV
11 / TDA 6 |
| Launched: |
12 Sep 66 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
33rd
American |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Rendezvous target, docked by
Gemini XI. |
| 51) |
| Mission: |
Gemini
XI |
| Launched: |
12 Sep 66 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
34th
American
(23rd
human, 15th American) |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Piloted (2 crewmembers): docked
with GATV 11, two EVAs and tethered experiment between Gemini and GATV. |
| M1) |
| Mission: |
MOL
/ Gemini B |
| Launched: |
2 Nov 66 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
(1st
military) |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Technology: military modular
station concept tested. |
| 52) |
| Mission: |
GATV
12 / TDA 7 |
| Launched: |
11 Nov 66 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
35th
American |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Rendezvous target: docked by
Gemini XII. |
| 56) |
| Mission: |
Gemini
XII |
| Launched: |
11 Nov 66 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
36th
American
(24th
human, 16th American) |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Piloted (2 crewmembers): docked
with GATV 11 and made three EVAs. |
| 54) |
|
Unmanned
test: first testflight of Soyuz, attitude control problems, recovery aborted
and capsule destroyed. |
| 55) |
| Mission: |
Kosmos
/ Soyuz 1 |
| Launched: |
14 Dec 66 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
19th
Soviet |
| Result: |
Failure |
|
Unmanned
test: major launch pad accident. |
| 1
9 6 7 |
(10 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in 172 missions = 6 %) |
| 56) |
| Mission: |
Apollo
1 (Apollo 204) |
| Launched: |
27 Jan 67 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
37th
American
(25th
human, 17th American) |
| Result:: |
Failure |
|
Piloted (3 crewmembers):
crew perished on launch pad fire (three weeks before schedule launch). |
| 57) |
| Mission: |
Kosmos
140 / Soyuz 3 |
| Launched: |
7 Feb 67 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
20th
Soviet |
| Result: |
Partial Success |
|
Unmanned
test: control problems, capsule
damaged
and sanked, but recovered. |
| 58) |
| Mission: |
Kosmos
146 / L-1 2P |
| Launched: |
10 Mar 67 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
21st
Soviet |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Unmanned
test: Earth-orbit (first) testflight
of a
Zond circumlunar spaceship. |
| 56) |
|
Circumlunar
testflight: failed to leave Earth orbit due
to Proton's
Block D injection stage failed to ignite. |
| 60) |
| Mission: |
Soyuz
1 |
| Launched: |
23 Apr 67 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
23rd
Soviet
(26th
human, 9th Soviet) |
| Result: |
Failure |
|
Piloted (1 crewmember): first
manned testflight of Soyuz, control problems, Komarov killed on landing
(multiple failure). |
| 61) |
| Mission: |
Zond
/ L-1 4L |
| Launched: |
27 Sep 67 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
24th
Soviet |
| Result: |
Failure |
|
Circumlunar
testflight: launch failed. |
| 62) |
|
Rendezvous
test: first dual flight of Soyuz (with Kosmos 188). |
| 63) |
|
Rendezvous
test: first automated rendezvous and
docking
of two spacecrafts. |
| 64) |
| Mission: |
Apollo
4 (AS-501) |
| Launched: |
9 Nov 67 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
38th
American |
| Result: |
Success |
|
First
unmanned test:of a Saturn V Moon rocket (first "all-up" test). Capsule
recovered. |
| 65) |
| Mission: |
Zond
L-1 5L |
| Launched: |
22 Nov 67 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
27th
Soviet |
| Result: |
Failure |
|
Circumlunar
testflight: launch failed. |
| 1
9 6 8 |
(14 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in 166 missions = 8 %) |
| 66) |
| Mission: |
Apollo
5 (AS-204) |
| Launched: |
22 Jan 68 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
39th
American |
| Result:: |
Success |
|
Unmanned
test of the first Apollo Lunar Module in Earth orbit. |
| 67) |
| Mission: |
Zond
4 |
| Launched: |
2 Mar 68 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
28th
Soviet |
| Result: |
Partial Sucess |
|
Testflight
of a piloted spacecraft able to make a lunar flyby and return to Earth.
The circumlunar flight was successful, but the capsule destruction was
ordered on reentry, following navigation deviation. |
| 68) |
| Mission: |
Apollo
6 (SA-502) |
| Launched: |
4 Apr 68 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
40th
American |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Second
unmanned test
of a Saturn V with a modified Command and Service
Module and a Lunar Module test article. Severe pogo effect and two of the
Saturn's second-stage J-2 engines shut down early, the remaining three
were extended to compensate. Capsule recovered. |
| 69) |
|
Second
automatic rendezvous test (with Kosmos 213). First completely successful
test of the Soyuz attitude control, automatic rendezvous and docking systems.
Capsule recovered. |
| 70) |
|
Target
for Kosmos 212 in a successful test of Soyuz rendezvous and docking systems.
Capsule recovered, but was dragged by heavy wind across the steppes when
the parachute lines didn't jettison at touchdown. |
| 71) |
| Mission: |
Zond |
| Launched: |
22 Apr 68 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
31st
Soviet |
| Result: |
Failure |
|
Circumlunar
testflight: the launch was aborted at 260 seconds and the capsule landed
safely 520 km downrange. |
| 72) |
| Mission: |
Zond |
| Launched: |
21 Jul 68 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
32nd
Soviet |
| Result: |
Failure |
|
Circumlunar
testflight: Proton's upper stage exploded on pad, killing three people.
Booster and the Zond spacecraft were still intact however. |
| 73) |
|
Succesful
final test of the redesigned Soyuz, clearing the way for Soyuz 3 piloted
mission. Capsule recovered. |
| 74) |
| Mission: |
Zond
5 |
| Launched: |
15 Sep 68 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
34th
Soviet |
| Result: |
Success |
|
First
successful circumlunar flight with capsule recovery. The craft flew at
1,950 km around the Moon, take high-quality photographs of Earth rise.
A biological payload of turtles, wine flies, meal worms, plants, seeds,
bacteria and other was onboard. The capsule splashed down in the Indian
Ocean after a ballistic 20-G reentry. |
| 75) |
| Mission: |
Apollo
7 |
| Launched: |
11 Oct 68 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
41st
American
(27th
human, 18th American) |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Piloted (3 crewmembers): 11-day
testflight of the Apollo Command and Service Module in Earth orbit. |
| 76) |
| Mission: |
Soyuz
2 |
| Launched: |
25 Oct 68 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
35th
Soviet |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Rendezvous target for Soyuz
3. Capsule recovered. |
| 77) |
| Mission: |
Soyuz
3 |
| Launched: |
26 Oct 68 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
36th
Soviet
(28th
human, 10th Soviet) |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Piloted (1 crewmember): testflight
of a piloted Soyuz capsule. Rendezvoused with the unmanned Soyuz 2, but
failed to dock (pilot errors). Capsule recovered. |
| 78) |
| Mission: |
Zond
6 |
| Launched: |
|
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
37th
Soviet |
| Result: |
A Certain Success |
|
Second
successful circumlunar flight by an unmanned spacecraft, loop around the
Moon at 2,420 km. Took spectacular photos of the Moon’s limb with the Earth
in the background. The craft made the first successful double skip trajectory,
dipping into the Earth's atmosphere over Antarctica, slowing from 11 km/sec
to suborbital velocity, then skipping back into space before making a final
reentry. The captule landed only 16 km from its launch pad. Its main parachute
ejected prematurely, leading to the capsule being destroyed on impact. |
| 79) |
| Mission: |
Apollo
8 |
| Launched: |
|
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
42nd
American
(29th
human, 19th American) |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Piloted (3 crewmembers). first
human deep-space flight and first piloted flight up to the Moon.
The crew spent Christmas around the Moon, circling 10 times. The astronauts
became the first men to see the far side. Their views of Earth rising from
Moon's horzion changed our perspectives of our world. Capsule recovered
with great success. |
| 1
9 6 9 |
(18 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in 155 missions = 12 %) |
| 80) |
| Mission: |
Soyuz
4 |
| Launched: |
14 Jan 69 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
38th
Soviet
(30th
human, 11th Soviet) |
| Result:: |
Success |
|
Piloted (1 crewmember):
first crew transfer in space. The spacecraft was launched with one cosmonaut
onboard but return with three. This mission finally successfully completed
the simulated lunar orbit docking and crew transfer for a Soviet lunar-landing
mission. |
| 81) |
| Mission: |
Soyuz
5 |
| Launched: |
15 Jan 69 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
39th
Soviet
(31st
human,12th Soviet) |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Piloted (3 crewmembers): first
two-manned spaceships docking. Two crewmembers made an EVA to tranfer
from Soyuz 5 to Soyuz 4. Capsule recovered after a near-fatal “nose-first”
reentry. |
| 82) |
| Mission: |
Zond |
| Launched: |
20 Jan 69 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
40th
Soviet |
| Result: |
Failure |
|
Circumlunar
testflight: launcher failed at 501 seconds, but the abort system functioned
perfectly, taking the capsule to a safe landing... in Mongolia. |
| 83) |
| Mission: |
N-1
test |
| Launched: |
21 Feb 69 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks |
41st
Soviet |
| Result: |
Failure |
|
First testflight of the Soviet
giant lunar rocket: the launcher ran into trouble immediately at lift-off.
A fire developed in its tail compartment. The engine monitoring system
detected the fire, but then gave an incorrect signal, shutting down all
engines at 68.7 seconds into the flight. |
| 84) |
| Mission: |
Apollo
9 Gumdrop |
| Launched: |
3 Mar 69 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
43rd
American
(32nd
human, 20th American) |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Piloted (3 crewmembers): first
testflight of the complete Apollo lunar spaceship (CSM Gumdrop and
LM Spider) in Earth orbit. A very successful mission. |
| 85) |
| Mission: |
Apollo
9 Spider |
| Launched: |
3 Mar 69 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
44th
American |
| Result: |
Success |
|
First tesflligh of a manned
Apollo Lunar Module (in Earth orbit). |
| 86) |
| Mission: |
Apollo
10 Charlie Brown |
| Launched: |
18 May 69 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
45th
American
(33rd
human, 21st American) |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Piloted (3 crewmembers): second
manned mission to the Moon. Testflight of the Apollo spaceship (CSM Charlie
Brown and LM Snoopy) and docking maneuvers in lunar orbit. A
very successful mission that paved the way to the first lunar landing. |
| 87) |
| Mission: |
Apollo
10 Snoopy |
| Launched: |
18 May 69 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
46th
American |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Tesflight of an Apollo lander
around the Moon. It descended along the Apollo 11 trajectory up to 10 km
altitude. |
| 88) |
| Mission: |
L-3S |
| Launched: |
3 Jul 69 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
42nd
Soviet |
| Result: |
Failure |
|
Second launch test of the Soviet
lunar rocket: it began to fail 0.25 second after liftoff when the oxidizer
pump of engine #8 ingested a slag fragment and exploded. A fire ensued
as the vehicle climbed past the top of the tower, then the vehicle began
to fall back to the pad at a 45 degree angle. The escape tower fired at
the top of the brief trajectory, taking the dummy descent module away from
the pad. Upon impact, the vehicle exploded, destroying the launch pad. |
| 89) |
| Mission: |
Apollo
11 Columbia |
| Launched: |
16 Jul 69 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
47th
American
(34th
human, 22nd American) |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Piloted (3 crewmembers): first
lunar landing and first man on the Moon. On 20 July 1969 at 16h18 EDT,
Neil Armstrong reported: "Houston, Tranquillity Base here. The Eagle
has landed." At 22:56 EDT, he radioed: "That's one small step for a man...
one giant leap for mankind." He and Aldrin spent 21½ hours
on the Moon, 2½ hours walking on Tranquility Base. They brought
back 22 kg of lunar soil sample and photos of a new world. |
| 90) |
| Mission: |
Apollo
11 Eagle |
| Launched: |
16 Jul 69 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
48th
American |
| Result: |
Success |
|
The first Apollo Lunar Module
landed in the Tranquility Basin (by 0.67408° North latitude and 23.47297°
East longitude). |
| 91) |
| Mission: |
Zond
7 |
| Launched: |
7 Aug 69 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
43rd
Soviet |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Second
complete sucessful circumlunar testflight. The craft flew past the Moon
at 1,985 km and conducted two picture taking sessions. Successfully accomplished
double-dip reentry and landed 50 km from its aim point in the USSR. This
Zond mission is the only complete success flight that could have returned
cosmonauts alive and uninjured to Earth. |
| 92) |
| Mission: |
Soyuz
6 |
| Launched: |
11 Oct 69 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
44th
Soviet
(35th
human, 13th Soviet) |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Piloted (2 crewmembers): the
first (and only) three-manned space mission. Tested spacecraft systems
and maneuvring of spaceships with respect to each other, conducted scientific,
technical and medico-biological experiments. Carried Vulkan welding furnace
for vacuum welding experiments in depressurized orbital module. Soyuz 6
was to have taken spectacular motion pictures of Soyuz 7 and Soyuz 8 docking,
but failure of rendezvous electronics in all three craft did not permit
such rendezvous and dockings. |
| 93) |
| Mission: |
Soyuz
7 |
| Launched: |
12 Oct 69 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
45th
Soviet
(36th
human, 14th Soviet) |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Piloted (3 crewmembers): part
of the first (and only) three-manned space mission. |
| 94) |
| Mission: |
Soyuz
8 |
| Launched: |
13 Oct 69 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
46th
Soviet
(37th
human, 15th Soviet) |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Piloted (2 crewmembers): part
of the first (and only) three-manned space mission. |
| 95) |
| Mission: |
Apollo
12 Yankee Clipper |
| Launched: |
14 Nov 69 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
49th
American
(38th
human, 23rd American) |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Piloted (3 crewmembers): second
manned lunar landing. The Saturn V/Apollo spacecraft was struck by lightnings
(at 36.5 seconds and 52 seconds into the flight), but the vehicle stayed
on course and no damage was done. The lunar module Intrepid landed
on 19 November 1969 at 1h55 EST and Conrad set foot on the Moon at 6h44
EST. Being shorter than Armstrong, he said: "Whoopee! Man, that may have
been a small step for Neil, but that's a long one for me." He and Bean
spent 31½ hours on the Moon, performed two spacewalks (total: 7h½
hours), brought back 34,4 kg of soil some pieces of the Surveyor 3 probe. |
| 96) |
| Mission: |
Apollo
12 Intrepid |
| Launched: |
14 Nov 69 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
50th
American |
| Result: |
Success |
|
The second Apollo Lunar Module
landed in the Ocean of Storms (by 3.01239° South latitude and 23.42157°
West longitude), about 163 meters from the Surveyor 3 probe that had landed
in April 1967. |
| 97) |
| Mission: |
Kosmos
/ L-1e No 1 |
| Launched: |
28 Nov 69 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
47th
Soviet |
| Result: |
Failure |
|
Attempted
testflight of Proton's fourth (Block D) upper stage in a lunar crasher
configuration. Payload was a modified circumlunar craft, which provided
guidance to the Block D and was equipped with television cameras that viewed
the behavior of the Block D propellants under zero-G conditions. The launch
was a failure because of a first-stage malfunction. (The mission was successfully
flown over a year later, as Kosmos 382.) |
| 1
9 7 0 |
(6 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in 142 missions = 4 %) |
| 98) |
| Mission: |
Apollo
13 Odyssey |
| Launched: |
11 Apr 70 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
51st
American
(39th
human, 24th American) |
| Result:: |
Failure |
|
Piloted (3 crewmembers):
third manned lunar attempt. The mission failed when an oxygen tank
in the CSM Odyssey exploded en route to the Moon. On 13 April
1970 at 22h08 EST, the crew reported an undervoltage alarm on the CSM main
bus B, rapid loss of pressure in SM oxygen tank No. 2, and dropping current
in fuel cells 1 and 3 to a zero reading. The crew was recovered with great
difficulties. Apollo 13 is considered a “sucessful failure” because the
crew was saved. |
| 99) |
| Mission: |
Apollo
13 Aquarius |
| Launched: |
11 Apr 70 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
52nd
American |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Aquarius was schedule
to make the third manned lunar landing, but became a (very robust) lifeboat
that preserved the life of the crew up to an hour prior Earth reentry.
It performed well above its design limits. |
| 100) |
| Mission: |
Soyuz
9 |
| Launched: |
1 Jun 70 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
48th
Soviet
(40th
human, 16th Soviet) |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Piloted (2 crewmembers): the
longuest manned spaceflight to date: 17 days, 16 hours and 59 minutes.
The crew returned successfully on Earth, but in poor physical condition. |
| 101) |
| Mission: |
Zond
8 |
| Launched: |
20 Oct 70 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks |
49th
Soviet |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Final circumlunar testflight:
it obtained photographs of Earth from a distance of 64,480 km and transmitted
images during three days. Zond 8 flew past the Moon at 1,110 km and used
a new variant of the double-dip reentry, coming in over the North pole
and then making a splashdown in the Indian Ocean. |
| 102) |
| Mission: |
Kosmos
379 / T2K 1 |
| Launched: |
24 Nov 70 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
50th
Soviet |
| Result: |
Succes |
|
Soviet lunar lander test: the
craft made a series of engine burns, simulating the lunar landing profile.
After 3½ days in orbit, the first burn was made in imitation of
a descent to the lunar surface. After 4 days, a large maneuvre was made,
simulating the ascent from the lunar surface. Then followed a series of
small adjustments simulating rendezvous and docking with the mother ship.
These tests proceed without major problems. |
| 103) |
| Mission: |
Kosmos
382 (Soyuz) |
| Launched: |
2 Dec 70 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
51st
Soviet |
| Result: |
Sucess |
|
Earth-orbit test of Proton's
upper stage (Block D) in its N1 lunar crasher configuration. Three maneuvres
simulated the lunar-orbit insertion burn; the lunar-orbit circularization
burn and the descent burn to bring the lander just over the surface. Payload
was equipped with television cameras that viewed the behavior of the Block
D stage propellants under zero-G conditions. |
| 1
9 7 1 |
(11 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in 175 missions = 6 %) |
| 104) |
| Mission: |
Apollo
14 Kitty Hawk |
| Launched: |
31 Jan 71 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
53rd
American
(40st
human, 25th American) |
| Result:: |
Success |
|
Piloted (3 crewmembers):
third manned lunar landing. Antares landed on 3 February 1971 at
4h17 EST, less than 20 meters from its planned landing point. Shepard and
Mitchell made two EVAs (total: 9h22) during their 33h30 stay on the Moon.
They use a small cart to carry equipement and sample. They walked some
4 km, the farthest point traveled from the LM was 1,474 meters. They brought
back 42.3 kg of soil but failed to find the Cone Crater in a “sea of craters”
(they were within only 15 meters from the rim of the crater). Shepard “played
golf” on the Moon; on the third swing, he drove a golfball to some 365
meters. |
| 105) |
| Mission: |
Apollo
14 Antares |
| Launched: |
31 Jan 71 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
54th
American |
| Result: |
Success |
|
The third Apollo Lunar Module
landed in the Fra Mauro region (by 3.64398° South latitude and 17.47748°
West longitude), the intended landing site for Apollo 13. |
| 106) |
| Mission: |
Kosmos
398 / T2K 2 |
| Launched: |
26 Feb 71 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
52nd
Soviet |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Second space test of the Soviet
lunar lander: it followed the same program as Kosmos
379. |
| 107) |
| Mission: |
Salyut
1 |
| Launched: |
19 Apr 71 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks |
53rd
Soviet |
| Result: |
Success |
|
First manned space station:
two crews were launched to board it, the first one failed, but the second
stayed for three weeks. Primarily a civilian space station, Salyut 1 included
a number of military experiments: the OD-4 optical visual ranger, the Orion
ultraviolet instrument for characterising rocket plumes and the highly-classified
Svinets radiometer.
By
the end of the first orbit, ground controllers discovered that the large
cover on the exterior protecting the scientific apparatus compartment –
that is, the OST-1 telescope -- had not been jettisoned, thus jeopardizing
at least 90 percent of the scientific experiments program. Apparently,
the explosive devices for the cover had failed to fire.
The
station orbited Earth for 180 days; it was learned that although much more
comfortable than the Soyuz, the station needs many improvements, including:
a unit for ejecting liquids, solar panels and scientific instruments that
can be automatically pointed at the Sun or their target and stabilised,
an improved control section, and better crew rest provisions. Only with
such improvements will it be possible to make flights of two months or
longer. |
| 108) |
| Mission: |
Soyuz
10 |
| Launched: |
22 Apr 71 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
54th
Soviet
(42nd
human, 17th Soviet) |
| Result: |
Failure |
|
Piloted (3 crewmembers): first
crew launched to live onboard an orbital space station. Two of the
three crewmembers (Shatalov and Yeliseyev) became the first Soviets to
make three spaceflights.) Soyuz 10 soft-docked with Salyut
1, but hard-docking could not be achieved because of the angle of approach.
The spaceship was connected to the station for 5 hours and 30 minutes.
But when it tried to undock, a mechanism impeded the separation. After
several attempts, Soyuz 10 was finally able to undock and return to Earth,
after a 2-day flight. The capsule made USSR's first night landing, falling
some 50 meters from the edge of a lake (from which it was saved at the
last moment by a gust of wind). |
| 109) |
| Mission: |
Soyuz
11 |
| Launched: |
|
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
55th
Soviet
(43rd
human, 18th Soviet) |
| Result: |
Partial Success |
|
Piloted (3 crewmembers): first
crew to live onboard a space station. Soyuz 11 docked normally to Salyut
1 and the crew was able to enter. It soon began its schedule
four-week work program. On 16 June at 13h00, the cosmonauts report a strong
burning smell and smoke in the station. They retreat to the Soyuz. Later,
the commander reports that all was normal - there was no more smoke or
burning smell - and requested permission to continue the flight. (The crew
never found the origin of the fire.) The mission was still planned for
the full 30 days, but the physical training program has not been followed
due to many problems and breakdowns aboard the station, requiring the cosmonauts
to spent a lot of time in unplanned repair activities. Finally, the Soyuz
capsule was recovered on 29 June at 23h17 TU, but when the hatch was opened,
it was found that the crew had perished due to a loss of cabin atmosphere.
A pressure equalization valve was jerked loose at the jettison of the orbital
module. The crew did not have space suits to protect them. |
| 110) |
| Mission: |
LK
(N-1 test) |
| Launched: |
26 Jun 71 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
56th
Soviet |
| Result: |
Failure |
|
Third launch test of the Soviet
lunar rocket: it developed a roll beyond the capability of the control
system to compensate and began to break up as it went through Max Q. Control
was lost at 50.2 seconds and the vehicle was destroyed by range safety
a second later. |
| 111) |
| Mission: |
Apollo
15 Endeavour |
| Launched: |
26 Jul 71 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
55th
American
(44th
human, 26th American) |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Piloted (3 crewmembers): fourth
manned lunar landing. The lunar module
Falcon landed on 30 July
1971 at 18h16 EDT. During the most complex lunar mission yet, Scott and
Irwin performed three EVAs (totalling 18h35). Color pictures from
the lunar surface were excellent. Moonwalkers used a jeep to travel 27.9
km to explore a vast area and to collect 77.3 kg of lunar samples during
their 66h54 they spend on the Moon. The farthest point traveled from the
LM was 5,02 km. While the LM was on the surface, the CSM pilot completed
34 lunar orbits, conducting scientific experiments and operating cameras
to obtain data concerning the lunar surface and the lunar environment.
Liftoff of Falcon's ascent stage was televised for the first time
via a camera placed at a distance on the lunar rover. The crew also eject
a scientific subsatellite into lunar orbit and the CSM pilot performed
the first deep-space EVA (en route from the Moon to Earth) to retreive
film cassettes. On splasdown, one of the three main parachutes failed
to deployed (no injury to the crew). |
| 112) |
| Mission: |
Apollo
15 Falcon |
| Launched: |
26 Jul 71 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
56th
American |
| Result: |
Success |
|
The fourth Apollo Lunar Module
landed in the Hadley-Apennine region (by 26.13222° North latitude and
3.63386° East longitude), 600 meters north-northwest of the proposed
target. |
| 113) |
| Mission: |
Lunar
Rover (LRV-1) |
| Launched: |
26 Jul 71 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
57th
American |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Apollo 15 crew used for the
first time and with great success a lunar jeep called the Lunar Roving
Vehicle (LRV-1), nicknamed the Rover. Onboard the Rover, they traveled
a total distance of 27.9 km during 3h00 of driving time. |
| 114) |
| Mission: |
Kosmos
434 / T2K 3 |
| Launched: |
12 Aug 71 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
57th
Soviet |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Final Soviet lunar lander test. |
|
|
|
| 1
9 7 2 |
(9 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in 143 missions = 6 %) |
| 115) |
| Mission: |
Apollo
16 Casper |
| Launched: |
16 Apr 72 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
58th
American
(45th
human, 27th American) |
| Result:: |
Success |
|
Piloted (3 crewmembers):
fifth manned lunar landing. The
Orion module landed on 20 April
1972 at 21h23 EST. During their 3-day on the Moon, Young and Duke
made three spacewalks (totalling 20h15), travelled 26.7 kilometers with
a jeep, collecting 96.6 kilograms of soil. |
| 116) |
| Mission: |
Apollo
16 Orion |
| Launched: |
16 Apr 72 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
59th
American |
| Result: |
Success |
|
The fifth Apollo Lunar Module
landed in the Descartes region (by 8.97301° South latitude and 15.50019°
East longitude), about 230 meters northwest of the planned target area. |
| 117) |
| Mission: |
Lunar
Rover (LRV-2) |
| Launched: |
16 Apr 72 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
60th
American |
| Result: |
Success |
|
The second Rover used by an
astronaut crew on the Moon. |
| 118) |
| Mission: |
Kosmos
496 (Soyuz) |
| Launched: |
26 Jun 72 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks |
58th
Soviet |
| Result: |
Success |
|
10-day testflight of a redesigned
two-seat Soyuz spacecraft following the Soyuz 11
accident. Little is known about the flight except that there was one orbital
maneuver, and the descent capsule returned to Earth. |
| 119) |
| Mission: |
Salyut |
| Launched: |
29 Jul 72 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
59th
Soviet |
| Result: |
Failure |
|
The second Salyut civilian
space station: failed to reach orbit because of the Proton's second-stage
malfunctioned 162 seconds into the flight. |
| 120) |
| Mission: |
N-1
test |
| Launched: |
23 Nov 72 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
60th
Soviet |
| Result: |
Failure |
|
Fourth (and final) launch test
of the Soviet lunar rocket. The launcher incorporated significant changes
to the previous ones, including roll 'steering' engines to prevent the
loss of control that destroyed the precedent N1. At launch, the rocket's
engines ran up to 107 seconds, only seven seconds before completion of
first stage burnout. But programmed shutdown of some engines to prevent
overstressing the structure led to propellant line hammering, rupture of
propellant lines and an explosion of engine number 4. Following this fourth
failure in four launches, the N1 lunar rocket program was cancelled. |
| 121) |
| Mission: |
Apollo
17 America |
| Launched: |
7 Dec 72 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
61st
American
(46th
human, 28th American) |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Piloted (3 crewmembers): sixth
and last manned lunar landing. The Challenger module landed on 11
December 1972 at 14h55 EST. Cernan and Schmitt spent three days on the
Moon, making three EVAs (totalling 22h05), driving 35 km on a jeep and
collecting 115 kg of soil. This mission marks the last time man walked
on another world in the 20th Century. |
| 122) |
|
The sixth Apollo Lunar Module
landed in the Taurus-Littrow region (by 20.19080° North latitude and
30.77168° East longitude). |
| 123) |
| Mission: |
Lunar
rover (LRV-3) |
| Launched: |
7 Dec 72 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
63rd
American |
| Result: |
Success |
|
The third Rover used by an
astronaut crew on the Moon. |
| 1
9 7 3 |
(9 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in 146 missions = 6 %) |
| M2) |
| Mission: |
Salyut
2 |
| Launched: |
3 Apr 73 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
(2nd
military) |
| Result:: |
Failure |
|
First military
(Almaz) orbital space station. Following a successful launch, Salyut 2
conduct at least two major orbital corrections, on April 4 and 8. Throughout
the first few days in orbit, all onboard systems seemed to be working without
fault. Trouble struck on the thirteenth day of flight, on April 15, when
controllers reported that the main telemetry system had failed and that
pressure in the main hull had dropped by half. Precise measurements of
the station's orbital trajectory showed that its path had deviated slightly,
as if given some kind of thrust. Apparently, when Salyut 2's main engine
was fired, it had caused punctures in the main hull. (Some suggest that
the station might have been hit by residual debris from the Proton booster
on April 15.) Western reports suggested that the actual hull breach had
been so violent that the station's solar panels and boom-mounted rendezvous
radar and radio transponder had been ripped off.
On
28 April, TASS announced that "having checked the design of improved on-board
systems and carried out experiments in space, Salyut 2 had completed its
flight program" - notably omitting the word "successfully" which it normally
used in such press releases. Lost and tumbling, the station decayed on
28 May (after 55 days in space). |
| 124) |
| Mission: |
Kosmos
557 (Salyut |
| Launched: |
11 May 73 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
61st
Soviet |
| Result: |
Failure |
|
Third civilian space station
launched to upstage Skylab orbited 3 days later.
But, on the very first orbit, Salyut's attitude-control engines spuriously
begun firing because of a failure in an ion sensor. As a result, it depleted
all its fuel reserves. The fact that the accident occurred in the first
few orbits allowed the Soviet press to disguise the mission by calling
it Kosmos 557. On 22 May, the craft's main engine was fired to raise its
orbit, but because of improper orientation, it reentered the atmosphere
and burned up over the Indian Ocean, after only 11 days. |
| 125) |
| Mission: |
Skylab
1 |
| Launched: |
14 May 73 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
64th
American |
| Result: |
Success |
|
First (and only) American (civilian)
space station. Severly damaged during its launch: the protective thermal/meteoroid
shield was ripped off 63 seconds into ascent, tearing away one of the two
main solar array wings as some debris jammed the second. The station was
repaired by the first two crews. During its 9 months of occupation, Skylab
received three crews (for 1, 2 and 3 months stays). Following the manned
phase, ground controllers performed engineering tests on the craft that
they were reluctant to do while men were aboard. Results helped determine
causes of failures during the mission and provide data on long-term degradation
of space systems. It was expected that Skylab would remain in orbit for
8 to 10 years. It was then hope that it could be visited by an early Space
Shuttle crew, reboosted into a higher orbit and used again. But delays
in first Shuttle flights and intense Solar activities made this impossible.
After a worldwide scare over its pending crash, Skylab made an uncontrolled
entry over the Pacific Ocean on 11 July 1979 (after 2,249 days in space).
It fell into the south-east Indian Ocean and Western Australia. Some of
its pieces were found. |
| 126) |
| Mission: |
Skylab
2 |
| Launched: |
25 May 73 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks |
65th
American
(47th
human, 29th American) |
| Result: |
§uccess |
|
Piloted (3 crewmembers): first
crew to board the Skylab space station. It was
an epic repair mission: the crew performed two EVAs to repair the damaged
station. Following a flyaround inspection on 25 June, Apollo docked with
Skylab at 17h56 EDT. It undocked at 18h45, so the astronaut could improvised
an EVA to try to deploy the solar array with a long pole. The attempt failed.
They succeed during a second EVA performed on 7 June. They also deployed
a lightweight solar shield, which brought the temperatures inside Skylab
down to tolerable levels. The astronauts then spent a “normal” month in
the cavernous station. They also complete a large scientific experiments
program. With the completion of this 28-day mission, the United States
took back the manned spaceflight duration record. |
| 127) |
| Mission: |
Kosmos
573 (Soyuz) |
| Launched: |
15 Jun 73 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
62nd
Soviet |
| Result: |
Success |
|
First testflight of the Soyuz
variant without any solar panel (thus able to stay for only two days in
space). The craft performed a single orbital maneuver, to lower apogee,
before returning to Earth after 2 days and 9 minutes. Presumably, the flight
was sufficiently successful to warrant a return-to-flight mission in the
program (Soyuz 12). |
| 128) |
| Mission: |
Skylab
3 |
| Launched: |
28 Jul 73 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
66th
American
(48th
human, 30th American) |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Piloted (3 crewmembers): second
crew to live onboard Skylab. The astronauts continued
repair of the station - a second twin-boom sunshade was deployed over the
parasol installed by the prevous crew - and performed
major inflight maintenance. One of the Apollo atttitude-control engine
oxidizer valve leaked (but was later isolated). Since this problem could
impede the return to Earth of the craft, another Apollo capsule was prepared
to rescue the crew. Skylab 3 crewmembers also completed an extensive scientific
and medical experiments, including 1,081 hours of Solar and Earth observations.
The 56-day mission doubled the record for length of time passed in space. |
| 129) |
| Mission: |
Soyuz
12 |
| Launched: |
27 Sep 73 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
63rd
Soviet
(49th
human, 19th Soviet) |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Piloted (2 crewmembers): first
manned testflight following the Soyuz 11 accident
(2 years earlier). The Soyuz underwent a major redesign to increase its
reliability; it is now able to carry only two cosmonauts (instead of three)
and the flight last only two days, the time needed to go between Earth
and a Salyut space station. Within seven hours of launch, the crew fired
the Soyuz main engine to alter their orbital parameters, simulating a rendezvous
with an imaginary station. To preclude rumors of a failed mission, the
Soviet press announced that the mission would last only two days. sufficient
to test its capabilities as a crew transport ship. One of the primary goals
was to test the Sokol-KI new pressure suits; the crew depressurized part
of the ship to test these suits. In another scientific investigation, as
one took Earth resources photos using a multispectral camera, the other
usied a standard camera while others in airplanes took photos of the same
areas to compare distortions introduced by the atmosphere. Small biological
payloads were apparently carried onboard. On the second day, there were
some serious defects in the life-support system, followed by a failure
in the ship's attitude control system, but the crew managed to successfully
returned to Earth. |
| 130) |
| Mission: |
Skylab
4 |
| Launched: |
16 Nov 73 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
67th
American
(50th
human, 31th American) |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Piloted (3 crewmembers): third
and last crew to live in the Skylab space station.
Planned duration of the mission was 56 days, with the option of extending
it to a maximum of 84 days. This final Skylab mission included observations
and photographs of Comet Kohoutek. Rebellion by the astronauts against
ground controllers led to none of them ever fly again. The 84-day flight
increased manned space flight time record by 50%. |
| 131) |
| Mission: |
Kosmos
613 (Soyuz) |
| Launched: |
30 Nov 73 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
64th
Soviet |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Long-duration unmanned testflight
of a Soyuz. Over a period of six days, the spacecraft rnaneuvered into
a working orbit similar to ones planned for future Salyut civilian stations,
and then powered down, simulating conditions when such ferries would be
docked. After an apparently successful mission, it returned to Earth on
29 January 1974 (after 60 days and 9 minutes). |
| 132) |
| Mission: |
Soyuz
13 |
| Launched: |
18 Dec 73 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
65th
Soviet
(51st
human, 20th Soviet) |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Piloted (2 crewmembers): a
unique flight of a modified Soyuz launched primarily to perform scientific
experiments that were delayed by repeated failures in the Salyut program.
As soon as it entered orbit, Soyuz 13 marked the first time that men from
both the United States and the Soviet Union were in space at the same time.
The spaceship was equipped with solar arrays and carries as its main payload
the Orion-2 astrophysical telescope which was mounted outside in place
of the docking system. The instrument was designed to observe stars in
the ultraviolet band and also x-ray emissions from the Sun, as the mission
was timed to coincide with Comet Kohoutek's approach to Earth. During an
immensely successful flight, the crew took 10,000 spectrograms of more
than 3,000 stars using NASA-supplied film. it also performed a wide range
of scientific experiments in medicine, biology, Earth resources, astronomy
and navigation. The crew successfully returned to Earth on 26 December
1973, after eight days. |
| 1
9 7 4 |
(6 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in 136 missions = 4½ %) |
| 133) |
| Mission: |
Kosmos
638 (Soyuz) |
| Launched: |
3 Apr 74 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
66th
Soviet |
| Result:: |
Success |
|
10-day unmanned
testflight of a Soyuz. |
| 134) |
| Mission: |
Kosmos
656 (Soyuz) |
| Launched: |
27 May 74 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
67th
Soviet |
| Result: |
§ucess |
|
2-day unmanned testflight of
the Soyuz variant designed to dock with the military Almaz space station. |
| M3) |
| Mission: |
Salyut
3 |
| Launched: |
|
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
(3rd
military) |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Second, but the first successful,
Almaz military space station. Tested a wide array of reconnaissance sensors.
Only one of the three planned crews managed to board it; one failed to
dock and the other was never launched. On 23 September 1974, the station
ejected a film return capsule, which suffered damage during reentry but
all its film were recoverable. On 24 January 1975, the onboard Nudelmann
aircraft cannon was test-fired. The next day, Salyut 3 was commanded to
a destructive reentry over the Pacific Ocean, after 214 days in space. |
| M4) |
| Mission: |
Soyuz
14 |
| Launched: |
3 Jul 74 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks |
(4th
military)
(52nd
human, 21st Soviet) |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Piloted (2 crewmembers): first
military piloted Almaz mission. The crew docked with Salyut
3 and two cosmonauts spent two weeks onboard. Their planned experimental
program included military reconnaissance of the Earth's surface, assessing
the fundamental value of such observations, and some supplemental medico-biological
research. All objectives were successfully completed and the Soyuz capsule
landed within 2 km of its aim point. |
| 135) |
| Mission: |
Kosmos
670 (Soyuz) |
| Launched: |
6 Aug 74 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
68th
Soviet |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Unmanned testflight of a Soyuz,
recovered after 3 days. |
| 136 |
| Mission: |
Kosmos
672 (Soyuz) |
| Launched: |
12 Aug 74 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
69th
Soviet |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Unmanned testing of an Apollo-Soyuz
version of the Soyuz. The craft maneuvered 5 times and was recovered after
6 days. |
| M5) |
| Mission: |
Soyuz
15 |
| Launched: |
26 Aug 74 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
(5th
military)
(53rd
human, 22nd Soviet) |
| Result: |
Failure |
|
Piloted (2 crewmembers): Soyuz
15 was to have conduct the second manned mission aboard the Salyut
3 military space station. But its Igla rendezvous system failed and
no docking was possible. Since the Soyuz had no reserves or backup systems
for repeated manual docking attempts, it had to land after only two days.
The crew was safely recovered.
The
state commission later found that the Igla system needed serious modifications.
Since this could not be done before Salyut 3 decayed, there was no time
to launch the planned third mission. (The craft was later flown as Soyuz
20, although it had surpassed its two-year storage life.) |
| 137) |
| Mission: |
Soyuz
16 |
| Launched: |
2 Dec 74 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
70th
Soviet
(54th
human, 23rd Soviet) |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Piloted (2 crewmembers): piloted
testflight of the Soyuz part of the
Apollo-Soyuz Test
Project. During its 6-day flight, the crew check-out onboard systems which
had been modernized to meet the requirements of the US-USSR joint flight.
The crew also conducted scientific and technical experiments. |
| 138) |
| Mission: |
Salyut
4 |
| Launched: |
26 Dec 74 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
71st
Soviet |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Highly-successful fourth civilian
space station. During 1975, it received two long-duration crews and then
conducted a long-term unmanned technical tests program. Salyut 4 was deorbited
over the Pacific Ocean on 2 February 1977, after 769 days in space. |
| 1
9 7 5 |
(7 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in 168 missions = 4 %) |
| 139) |
| Mission: |
Soyuz
17 |
| Launched: |
10 Jan 75 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
72nd
Soviet
(55th
human, 24th Soviet) |
| Result:: |
Success |
|
Piloted (2 crewmembers):
first crew to board the Salyut 4 civil space station.
Two cosmonauts spent nearly a month doing experiments. |
| 140) |
| Mission: |
April
5 anomaly |
| Launched: |
5 Apr 75 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
73rd
Soviet
(56th
human, 25th Soviet) |
| Result: |
Failure |
|
Piloted (2 crewmembers). Cosmonauts
of this “Soyuz 18” were scheduled to spent two months in Salyut
4 but, instead, they survived the first launch abort accident. Launcher's
third stage failed to separate from the second stage still ignited. The
Soyuz was separated by ground control at 192 km altitude and, following
a 20+ G ballistic reentry, it landed in the Altai mountains, tumbled down
a mountainside and snagged in some bushes just short of a precipice. The
crew was worried that they may have landed in China and would face internment.
But after an hour sitting in the cold next to the capsule, they were discovered
by locals speaking Russian. Lazarev suffered internal injuries and never
flew again. This is the first launch failure ever acknowledged by the Soviets;
on the eve of the Apollo-Soyuz mission, the accident
caused some concern in the United States. |
| 141) |
| Mission: |
Soyuz
18 |
| Launched: |
24 May 75 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
74th
Soviet
(57th
human, 26th Soviet) |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Piloted (2 crewmembers): the
“April 5th Anomaly” backup crew spent two months
inside Salyut 4. The cosmonauts completed a large
series of scientific and technical experiments. Since they remained aloft
during the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project joint flight,
they caused concern to the U.S. on the Soviet ability to conduct two complexe
piloted missions. The crew returned on Earth five days after the Soyuz
19 crew, setting a new Soviet long-duration flight record: 63 days. |
| 142) |
| Mission: |
Soyuz
19 |
| Launched: |
15 Jul 75 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks |
75th
Soviet
(58th
human, 27th Soviet) |
| Result: |
Sucess |
|
Piloted (2 crewmembers): the
Soviet half of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP), the first joint piloted
mission between the Soviet Union and the United States. For the first time
in the Soviet space program, the launch was show live on TV around the
world. On 17 July at 11h10, Apollo docked with Soyuz. Crewmembers rotated
between the two crafts and conducted various ceremonial activities. Leonov
was on the American side for 5h43, while Kubasov spent 4h57. After being
docked for nearly 44 hours, the crafts parted and were station-keeping
at a range of 50 meters. The Apollo crew placed its craft between Soyuz
and the Sun to create an eclipse. After this experiment, Apollo moved towards
Soyuz for the second docking. Three hours later, they undocked for the
final time. With all the joint flight activities completed, the ships went
on their separate ways. After years of meticulous preparations and development
of a common docking system, the mission was a great success. Soyuz 19 returned
on Earth after 6 days while Apollo continued for another 3 days. |
| 143) |
| Mission: |
Apollo
ASTP |
| Launched: |
15 Jul 75 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
68th
American
(59th
human, 31th American) |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Piloted (3 crewmembers): the
American half for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP). The last Apollo
lift-off 7h30 after Soyuz to test a common docking system for space rescue.
Stafford spent 7h10 aboard Soyuz, Brand 6h30 and Slayton 1h35 (see previous
entry).
After the
joint flight, the American crew conducted Earth observations, experiments
in a multipurpose furnace, extreme ultraviolet survey, etc. The crew splasdown
after 9 days in space. During reentry, the astronauts suffered some
pulmonary problems by inhaling fumes. They were incommodated, but not severly
injured.
Their
return marks the end of an era for the U.S. space program: the last time
a capsule was used. The first Space Shuttle was schedule to be launched
in March 1978 but, in fact, no American flew for six years. Also, 20 years
will past before any joint spaceflight occured: Shuttle-Mir missions, before
the International Space Station. |
| 144) |
| Mission: |
Kosmos
772 (Soyuz) |
| Launched: |
29 Sep 75 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
76th
Soviet |
| Result: |
Failure |
|
Unmanned military Soyuz testflight:
unsuccessful mission. The craft transmitted only on 166 MHz frequency,
but at none of the other usual Soyuz wavelengths. Recovered after 4 days. |
| 145 |
| Mission: |
Soyuz
20 |
| Launched: |
17 Nov 75 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
77th
Soviet |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Unmanned long-duration testflight
of a Soyuz transport vehicle, precursor to the Progress cargoship. The
craft docked automatically to Salyut 4. Carried
living organisms that were exposed to three months in space before being
recovered. |
| 1
9 7 6 |
(2 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in 164 missions = 1 %) |
| M6) |
| Mission: |
Salyut
5 |
| Launched: |
22 Jun 76 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
(6th military) |
| Result:: |
Success |
|
Third (and last)
military Almaz space station, second operated with success. Two crews visited
the station and one failed to dock. (A fourth mission was planned, but
was cancelled due to low orientation fuel on Salyut 5.) During flights,
a 'parallel crew' was inside a duplicate station on the ground, to conduct
the same operations in support of over 300 science and technology experiments.
Onboard Salyut 5 were a pair of Russian tortoises and Zebrafish. Presumably,
the station was equipped with a side-looking radar for reconnaissance of
land and sea targets. A film capsule was ejected on 22 February 1977 and
recovered. The station was deorbited on 8 August 1977, after 411 days.
The
results of both
Salyut 3 and 5 flights showed that
manned reconnaissance was not worth the expense. There was minimal time
to operate the equipment because the crew need time for maintenance of
station housekeeping and environmental control systems. The experiments
themselves showed good results, especially the value of reconnaissance
of the same location in many different spectral bands. |
| M7) |
| Mission: |
Soyuz
21 |
| Launched: |
6 Jul 76 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
(7th military)
(60th
human, 28th Soviet) |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Piloted (2 crewmembers): the
first crew to operate the Salyut 5 military station.
The craft docked with the station after failure of the Igla system at the
last stage of the rendezvous. The crew operated successfully the stations's
equipement during 1½ month. Towards the end of the mission, an early
return to Earth was requested due to the poor condition of flight engineer
Zholobov (who was suffering from space sickness and psychological problems). |
| 145) |
| Mission: |
Soyuz
22 |
| Launched: |
15 Sep 76 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
78th
Soviet
(61st
human, 29th Soviet) |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Piloted (2 crewmembers): a
unique week-long civilian Earth observation mission. This surplus Soyuz
ASTP
spacecraft was modified with the addition in its orbital module of a multi-spectral
camera manufactured by Carl Zeiss-Jena. Eight days were spent photographing
Earth. |
| 147) |
| Mission: |
Soyuz
23 |
| Launched: |
14 Oct 76 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks |
(8th military)
(62nd
human, 30th Soviet) |
| Result: |
Failure |
|
Piloted (2 crewmembers): second
crew launched to operate the Salyut 5 military
space station. The ferry craft suffered a docking system failure: sensors
indicated an incorrect lateral velocity, causing unnecessary firing of
the thrusters during rendezvous. The automatic system was turned off, but
no fuel remained for a manual docking by the crew. The capsule landed safely
after 2 days. |
| 147) |
| Mission: |
Kosmos
869 (Soyuz) |
| Launched: |
29 Nov 76 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
79th
Soviet |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Unmanned military Soyuz testflight.
Made six orbital maneuvers and transmitted only on 20.008 MHz and 166 MHz
frequencies, at none of the other usual Soyuz radio wavelengths. Recovered
after 18 days. |
| M9) |
| Mission: |
Kosmos
881 (TKS) |
| Launched: |
15 Dec 78 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
(9th military) |
| Result: |
Success |
|
First testflight of a pair
of reusable capsule able to carry a three-person crew for 31 hours of autonomous
flight. These capsules were similar in configuration to an Apollo capsule,
but was 30% smaller. This first test was a one-orbit flight: once the Proton
final stage shut down, the first capsule separated and, two seconds later,
the second capsule. All systems of both crafts were in operation and their
guidance system oriented each for retrofire. The pair than began the return
to Earth. At 10 km altitude, the three-cupola drogue parachute was ejected
and the soft landing was accomplished with higher accuracy than Soyuz.
Both capsules were recovered after a 1½-hour and less than one revolution
flight. (At the time, this Cosmos 881-882 double flight was very confounding
for Western observers, many believiug them to be some tests of a manned
spaceplane prototypes.) |
| M10) |
| Mission: |
Kosmos
882 (TKS) |
| Launched: |
15 Dec 78 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
(10th military) |
| Result: |
Success |
|
First testflight of a pair
of reusable Apollo-type piloted capsule (see above). |
| 1
9 7 7 |
(3 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in 147 missions = 2 %) |
| M11) |
| Mission: |
Soyuz
24 |
| Launched: |
7 Feb 77 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
(11th military)
(63rd
human, 31st Soviet) |
| Result:: |
Success |
|
Piloted (2 crewmembers):
second (and last) crew to work inside the Salyut 5
military space station. The crew brought repair equipment and for
a change of cabin atmosphere. However, even if analysis showed no
toxins in the air, the crew changed the cabin air anyway, then returned
to Earth. The mission, although a short 18 days, was characterised as a
busy and successful mission, accomplishing nearly as much as the earlier
Soyuz
21's 50-day mission. |
| M12) |
| Mission: |
Kosmos
929 (TKS) |
| Launched: |
17 Jul 77 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
(12th military) |
| Result: |
Success |
|
First test of the Soviet new
manned ferry vehicle. This TKS (Transportniy Korabl Snabzheniya)
vehicle was designed to provide a reusable resupply and crew return spacecraft
much more capable and flexible than either the Soyuz or Apollo designs.
On its first flight, the TKS maneuvered extensively (13 times) and its
capsule returned to Earth after a month. |
| M13) |
| Mission: |
Kosmos
(TKS) |
| Launched: |
4 Aug 77 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
(30th military) |
| Result: |
Failure |
|
Second test of a pair of reusable
capsules, but they were lost when Proton's first stage engine steering
unit failed at 40 seconds into the flight. |
| M14) |
| Mission: |
Kosmos
(TKS) |
| Launched: |
4 Aug 77 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks |
(14th military) |
| Result: |
Failure |
|
Second test of a pair of reusable
capsules, but they were lost when Proton's first stage engine steering
unit failed at 40 seconds into the flight. |
| 148) |
| Mission: |
Salyut
6 |
| Launched: |
29 Sep 77 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
80th
Soviet |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Fifth civilian Soviet space
station, operated with great success during 3½ years. Salyut 6 is
considered a second-generation space station because it had two docking
ports, which made possible the presence of two visiting spaceships at a
time. With Salyut 6, the very secretive Soveit space program open up greatly
because the station was visited by international crews. Five long-duration
crews stayed onboard for a cumulative 22 months. They received 11 visiting
crews, as well as 12 Progress resupply ships (in addition, 2 crews missed
their docking). For the first time, citizens from other countries (than
USSR and US) orbited the Earth: they were representatives of 9 Communis
states. Three EVAs were performed from Salyut 6 to conduct surveys
and repairs. The station was deorbited over the Pacific Ocean on 29 July
1982, after 1,764 days in space. Salyut 6 represents one of the finest
achievement of the Soviet space program. |
| 149) |
| Mission: |
Soyuz
25 |
| Launched: |
9 Oct 77 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
81st
Soviet
(64th
human, 32nd Soviet) |
| Result: |
Failure |
|
Piloted (2 crewmembers): first
crew schedule to board the newly launched
Salyut 6
civilian space station. The craft failed to dock and was recovered after
2 days. |
| 150) |
| Mission: |
Soyuz
26 |
| Launched: |
10 Dec 77 |
| R: |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
82nd
Soviet
(65th
human, 33rd Soviet) |
| Result: |
Succe=ss |
|
Piloted (2 crewmembers): the
first crew to work inside the Salyut 6. Conducted
a vast series of science and technology experiments during three months,
as well as joint operations with two visiting crews. The occupants were
also resupplied by the first Progress cragoship and performed an EVA to
inspect the forward docking port of the station, possibly damaged during
the Soyuz 25 failed docking (no damage were found).
With 96 days in space, the Soyuz 26 crew established a new a world record. |
| 1
9 7 8 |
(10 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in 174 missions = 6 %) |
| 151) |
Soyuz
27 |
83rd
Soviet
(66th
human,
34th
Soviet) |
10
Jan 78 |
S |
Piloted (2 crewmembers):
first visiting crew to a space station. Two Russian cosmonauts spent a
week in
Salyut 6 to proceed to the first Soyuz
exchange by returning on Earth in Soyuz 26 (and
leaving their Soyuz 27 to the resident crew). |
| 152) |
Progress
1 |
84th Soviet |
20 Jan 78 |
S |
First cargo delivery to the
Salyut
6 space station: the Progress craft delivered 2.3 tonnes of fuel, consumable
materials and equipment. It undocked on 6 February, after 15 days, and
was destroyed two days later on reentry in the upper atmosphere. |
| 153) |
Soyuz
28 |
85th Soviet
(67th
human,
35th
Soviet) |
2 Mar 78 |
S |
Piloted (2 crewmembers): second
visiting crew to the Salyut 6 space station and
first flight of a citizen from a third courntry: the Czechoslovak Socialist
Republic. This first Intercosmos team spent a week onboard the station
carrying a jointly developed program. |
| M15) |
Kosmos
997 (TKS) |
(15th military) |
30 Mar 78 |
S |
Third test of a dual TKS reusable
Apollo-type capsule. Given the destruction of the second
attempt, plans to crew the upper reentry capsule in this test was abandoned.
Both capsules were recovered after one orbit. One of the capsules was on
its second flight to orbit; this was said to have demonstrated the multiple
reentry capability of the heat shield and the first planned reuse of a
spacecraft. (Gemini 2 was refurbished and reflown
as MOL-1 in the 1960's, but was not designed for that
purpose.) |
| M16) |
Kosmos
998 (TKS) |
(16th military) |
30 Mar 78 |
S |
Third test of a dual TKS
reusable capsule, recovered after one orbit (see above). |
| 154) |
Kosmos
1001 (Soyuz) |
86th Soviet |
4 Apr 78 |
F |
Unsuccessful testflight of
a Soyuz capsule, recovered after 11 days. |
| 155) |
Soyuz
29 |
87th Soviet
(68th
human,
36th
Soviet) |
15 Jun 78 |
S |
Piloted (2 crewmembers): second
long-duration crew which stay three months onboard Salyut
6 space station. The crew received two Intercosmos visiting crews,
were resupplied by two Progress cargoships and performed an EVA to retrieve
externally-mounted experiments. With a 139½-day flight, it established
a new world endurance record. |
| 156) |
Soyuz
30 |
88th Soviet
(69th
human,
37th
Soviet) |
27 Jun 78 |
S |
Piloted (2 crewmembers): third
visiting crew to Salyut 6 space station and the
second Intercosmos crew, with a citizen of Poland. It spent a week perforrming
joint experiments with the resident crew. |
| 157) |
Progress
2 |
89ath Soviet |
7 Jul 78 |
S |
Second cargo delivery to Salyut
6. The craft carried 2.3 tonnes of fuel, consumable materials and equipment
to the station. It undocked from Salyut on 2 August, after 24 days, and
was destroyed two days later in the upper atmosphere. |
| 158) |
Progress
3 |
90th Soviet |
7 Aug 78 |
S |
Third cargo delivery to Salyut
6, with 2.3 tonnes of fuel, consumable materials and equipment to the
station. The craft undocked from Salyut on 21 August, after 12 days, and
was destroyed on reentry two days later. |
| 159) |
Soyuz
31 |
91st Soviet
(70th
human,
38th
Soviet) |
26 Aug 78 |
S |
Piloted (2 crewmembers): fourth
visiting crew to Salyut 6 space station and third
international crew, with a citizen from the German Democratic Republic.
It spent a week peforrming joint experiments with the resident crew. Also,
it performed the second Soyuz exchange by returning to Earth in the Soyuz
29 capsule. |
| 160) |
Progress
4 |
92nd Soviet |
3 Oct 78 |
S |
Fourth cargo delivery to Salyut
6, carrying 2.3 tonnes of fuel, consumable materials and equipment
to the station. The craft undocked from Salyut on 24 October, after 18½
days, and burned on reentry two days later. |
| 1
9 7 9 |
(8 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in 134 missions = 6 %) |
| 161) |
Kosmos
1074 (Soyuz) |
93rd Soviet |
31
Jan 79 |
S |
Unmanned testflight
of the new Soyuz T spaceship, the next generation three-seat transport
capsule. During its 60 days solo flight, the craft maneuvered 6 times and
was recovered on 1st April 1979. |
| 162) |
Soyuz
32 |
94th Soviet
(71st
human,
39th
Soviet) |
25 Feb 79 |
S |
Piloted (2 crewmembers): third
long-duration crew onboard Salyut 6. This first
six-month mission was full of events. The crew received no visitors since
the one expected missed its docking. The station residents received one
unmanned Soyuz and three resupply Progress and had to improvize an EVA
to dislodge a large parabolic antenna stuck on the aft end of their station.
Their 175-day flight set a new world record. (Soyuz 32 returned unmanned
on 15 June 1979, see Soyuz 34 below.) |
| 163) |
Progress
5 |
95th Soviet |
12 Mar 79 |
S |
This fifth cargo delivery to
Salyut
6 carried 2.3 tonnes of fuel, consumable materials and equipment. It
undocked from the station on 3 April, after 20 days, and was destroyed
in the upper Earth atmosphere two days later. |
| 164) |
Soyuz
33 |
96th Soviet
(72nd
human,
40th
Soviet) |
10 Apr 79 |
F |
Piloted (2 crewmembers): fifth
visiting crew to Salyut 6 space station and fourth
Intercosmos crew, with a citizen from Bulgaria. The crew failed to dock
with the station and had to return to Earth after only two days. Since
this mission was scheduled to exchange the Soyuz 32
capsule, program managers were forced to launch unmanned the next
Soyuz.
Also, this international failure marks a blow to the Soviet Union's claim
to always succeed in its space operations. |
| 165) |
Progress
6 |
97th Soviet |
13 May 79 |
S |
Sixth cargo delivery to the
Salyut
6 space station. The cargoship carried 2.3 tonnes of fuel, consumable
materials and equipment. It undocked from the station on 8 June, after
24 days, and burn up the next day. |
| M17) |
Kosmos
1100 (TKS) |
(17th military) |
22 May 79 |
S |
Fourth test of a pair of TKS
reusable Apollo-type capsule. The capsules launched were the twins from
the third test. One capsule failed when its automatic system suffered an
electrical distribution failure and did not land correctly, spending two
orbits in space. The other capsule landed as planned after one orbit. The
launch again demonstrated the reusability of the capsule. But plans to
launch the upper capsule with a crew were scrubbed due to the inability
to get two consecutive failure-free launches of the Proton/TKS. (As for
the three precedent tests, for the Western observers at the time, this
mission was considered a strange “spaceplane test”.) |
| M18) |
Kosmos
1101 (TKS) |
(18th military) |
22 May 79 |
S |
The second TKS capsule part
of the fourth dual testflight (see above). |
| 166) |
Soyuz
34 |
98th Soviet |
6 Jun 79 |
F |
Launched unmanned to provide
return capability to Salyut 6 residents. Since
the failed docking of Soyuz 33, which was supposed
to serve as the recovery ship, Soyuz 34 was launched uncrewed. Fortunately,
after checkout of its propulsion system, the craft docked successfully
with Salyut 6. On 19 August 1979, it transported back on Earth the Salyut
6 residents. |
| 167) |
Progress
7 |
99th Soviet |
28 Jun 79 |
S |
Seventh cargoship that delivered
fuel, consumable materials and equipment to Salyut
6. It also carried the 10-meter diameter radio telescope KRT-10. Attached
to the station docking hatch, the antenna was deployed after the separation
of Progress on 18 July 1979 (after 18 days docked). Unfortunately, the
telescope get stucked and cosmonauts had to make an urgent EVA to discarde
it. Meanwhile, Progress 7 was commanded to a destructive reentry two days
after its undocking. |
| 168) |
Soyuz
T |
100th Soviet |
16 Dec 79 |
S |
Unmanned test of the three-seat
Soyuz T design. The craft docked and stayed three months at the unoccupied
Salyut
6. It was recovered on 25 March 1980, after 100 days in space. |
| 1
9 8 0 |
(10 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in 144 missions = 7 %) |
| 169) |
Progress
8 |
101st Soviet |
27
Mar 80 |
S |
Eight cargo delivery
to Salyut 6. In prevision of the arrival of the
fourth resident crew, this new cargoship brought fuel, consumable materials
and equipment. It undocked on 25 April, after 26½ days, and was
destroyed two days later. |
| 170) |
Soyuz
35 |
102nd Soviet
(73rd
human,
41st
Soviet) |
9 Apr 80 |
S |
Piloted (2 crewmembers): fourth
long-duration crew to stay in Salyut 6. During
6 months, the crew lived a much less evenfull mission than their predecessors,
receiving four visiting crews (3 international) and resupplied by four
Progress cargoships. A new endurance record was set: 185 days. |
| 170) |
Progress
9 |
103rd Soviet |
27 Apr 80 |
S |
Ninth cargo delivery to Salyut
6, briging 2.3 tonnes of fuel, consumable materials and equipment.
The craft undocked from the station on 20 May, after 21½ days, and
was destroyed two days later. |
| 172) |
Soyuz
36 |
104th Soviet
(74th
human,
42nd
Soviet) |
26 May 80 |
S |
Piloted (2 crewmembers): sixth
visiting crew to the Salyut 6 space station and
fifth Intercosmos crew, with a citizen of Hungary. The crew spent a week
doing joint experiments with the resident crew. |
| 173) |
Soyuz
T-2 |
105th Soviet
(75th
human,
43rd
Soviet) |
5 Jun 80 |
S |
Piloted (2 crewmembers): first
piloted testflight of the new version of the Soyuz T transport ship. The
crew made a short visit to Salyut 6 and returned
on Earth after less than 4 days in space. |
| 174) |
Progress
10 |
106th Soviet |
29 Jun 80 |
S |
Tenth cargo delivery to Salyut
6 with 2.3 tonnes of fuel, consumable materials and equipment. The
craft undocked from the station on 17 July, after 17 days, and was burned
two days later. |
| 175) |
Soyuz
37 |
107th Soviet
(76th
human,
44th
Soviet) |
23 Jul 80 |
S |
Piloted (2 crewmembers): eighth
visiting crew to Salyut 6 and sixth Intercosmos,
with a citizen from Viet Nam. The crew spent a week along with the residents
and proceed to the third exchange of Soyuz, retutning to Earth with the
Soyuz
35. |
| 176) |
Soyuz
38 |
108th Soviet
(77th
human,
45th
Soviet) |
18 Sep 80 |
S |
Piloted (2 crewmembers): ninth
visiting crew to Salyut 6 and seventh Intercosmos
crew, with a citizen from Cuba. The crew spent a week with the residents
doing joint experiments. |
| 177) |
Progress
11 |
109th Soviet |
28 Sep 80 |
S |
Eleventh cargo delivery to
Salyut
6.carrying 2.3 tonnes of fuel, consumable materials and equipment.
The craft undocked from the station on 9 december, after 70 days, and was
destroyed two days later. |
| 178) |
Soyuz
T-3 |
110th Soviet
(78th
human,
46th
Soviet) |
27 Nov 80 |
S |
Piloted (3 crewmembers): short
resident crew launched toward Salyut 6 to carry-out
important repairs to the station during a 12-day mission. |
| 1
9 8 1 |
(6 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in 160 missions = 4 %) |
| 179) |
Progress
12 |
111th Soviet |
24
Jan 81 |
S |
12th cargo delivery
to Salyut 6, launched in advance of the arrival
of the sixth resident crew. It carried 2.3 tonnes of fuel, consumable materials
and equipment. The craft undocked from the station on 19 March, after 52
days, and was destroyed the day after. |
| 180) |
Soyuz
T-4 |
112th Soviet
(79th
human,
47th
Soviet) |
12 Mar 81 |
S |
Piloted (2 crewmembers): sixth
crew to live and work onboard the Salyut 6 space
station. During 75 days, the crew carried out repairs and preventive maintenance
as well as scientific research. It received two visiting crews and was
resupplied by two Progress cargoships. |
| 181) |
Soyuz
39 |
113th Soviet
(80th
human,
48th
Soviet) |
22 Mar 81 |
S |
Piloted (2 crewmembers): tenth
visiting crew to Salyut 6 and eighth Intercosmos
crew, with a citizen from the Mongolian People's Republic. The crew spent
a week with the residents doing joint experiments. |
| 182) |
STS-1
/ OFT-1 |
69th
American
(81st
human,
33th
American) |
12 Apr 81 |
S |
Piloted (2 crewmembers): first
flight of the first reusable spaceship: NASA's Space Transportation System,
or Space Shuttle. For the first time, a crewed space vehicle was tested
with people onboard. For the first time too, a human-rated spacecraft used
solid propellant as fuel. At launch, shock waves from the ignition of the
Orbiter's engines caused damage to the thermal tiles. On its debut flight,
the winged-spaceship proved that it could safely reach Earth orbit and
then return through the atmosphere to land like an airplane. In space,
the crew tested Columbia’s on-board systems; and fired the Orbital
Maneuvering System to changing orbits and the Reaction Control System engines
for attitude control. The crew also opened and closed the large payload-bay
doors (the bay was empty for this flight). After 36 orbits, the Orbiter
made a smooth touchdown in the dry lakebed of Edwards AFB, in California
(making the first landing of a US spaceship) after a 2¼-day
flight. This flight marks American astronauts return to space after six
years of absence. |
| M19) |
Kosmos
1267 (TKS) |
(19th military) |
25 Apr 81 |
S |
First TKS flgiht toward a (Salyut)
space station. A capsule was recovered on 24 May but the military ferry
craft docked to Salyut 6 on 19 June, after 57 days
of autonomous flight. It stayed on the station until both were destroyed
on 29 July 1982. |
| 183) |
Soyuz
40 |
114th Soviet
(82nd
human,
49th
Soviet) |
14 May 81 |
S |
Piloted (2 crewmembers): eleventh
visiting crew to Salyut 6 and ninth (and last)
Intercosmos crew, with a citizen from Romania. The crew spent a week with
the residents doing joint experiments. |
| 184) |
STS-2
/ OFT-2 |
70th
American
(83rd
human,
34th
American) |
12 Nov 81 |
S |
Piloted (2 crewmembers): first
flight of a reused spaceship (Columbia). To eliminate the problem
created by the Shuttle’s main engine’s shock wave at ignition, a sound-suppressing
(water deluge) system was installed on the pad. Originally intended to
last five days, the testflight was cut short when problems developed with
one of three onboard fuel cells that produce electricity. However, the
crew had time to conduct the first tests of the Canadian Remote Manipulator
System arm (Canadarm) and operated the first payload: a package of Earth-viewing
instruments. Columbia returned safely after only 2¼ days
at Edwards AFB. |
| 1
9 8 2 |
(11 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in 160 missions = 7 %) |
| 185) |
STS-3
/ OFT-3 |
71st
American
(84th
human,
35th
American) |
22
Mar 82 |
S |
Piloted (2 crewmembers):
The longest of the four Shuttle testflights, Columbia's carried
space-viewing instruments for the first time, as the crew continued engineering
evaluations of the Orbiter. After rains flooded the dry lakebed at the
primary landing site at Edwards AFB, the Orbiter made the Shuttle program’s
first (and only) landing at White Sands, New Mexico, after 8 days. |
| 186) |
Salyut
7 |
115th Soviet |
19 Apr 82 |
S |
Sixth civilian Soviet space
station and the 2nd second-generation station with two docking ports. Also,
the station was designed to allow the installation of an additional large
solar array to increase its power supply. Salyut 7 was not operated as
successfully as Salyut 6 since it suffured numerous
and major breakdowns. The station was inhabited by five resident crews
during 3½ years of operations and received 5 visiting crews. It
was also resupplied by 13 Progress and received two TKS unmanned large
military cargo-carrying craft. With the cancellation
of Almaz military space stations, a large proportion of the experiments
done onboard Salyut 7 had military objectives. Also, witt the permanent
addition of one of the large military TKS module (Kosmos
1686) at the end of its piloted oprations, Salyut 7 became the first
orbital space complex (precursor to the multi-modular Mir
complex). In August 2006, engines on Kosmos 1686 boosted the station
to a record-high mean orbital altitude of 475 km to forestall reentry.
In
the spring of 1986, Salyut 7 was briefly revisited by a sixth crew and
then maintained in automatic operations for five years. In January 1990,
the station was out of fuel, unable to maneuver: uncontrolled reentry was
expected in three to four years. But Salyut 7 reentered early on, on 7
February 1991, over Argentina. Controllers attempted to control impact
point (set for Atlantic Ocean) by setting the craft in tumble. But the
maneuver failed and many fragments fell on the town of Capitan Bermudez,
400 km from Buenos Aires. The inhabitants discovered numerous metal fragments
at various locations in the city but, luckily, no one was hurt by the metallic
shower. Salyut 7 had spent 3,216 days in space, or 8.8 years. |
| 187) |
Soyuz
T-5 |
116th Soviet
(85th
human,
50th
Soviet) |
13 May 82 |
S |
Piloted (2 crewmembers): first
crew to reside onboard Salyut 7. During its record
211-day flight, the crew received three visiting crews, four Progress resupply
ships and performed an EVA to retrieve experimental samples from the outside
the station. On 17 May, the crew ejected through the waste disposal hatch
Iskra 2, an experimental amateur-radio satellite. |
| 188) |
Progress
13 |
117th Soviet |
23 May 82 |
S |
1st cargo delivery to Salyut
7, carrying 2.3 tonnes of fuel, consumable materials and equipment.
Progress 13 propulsion engines were used to lower the station orbit in
preparation for the Soyuz T-6 mission. The craft
undocked on 4 June, after only 10 days, and was destroyed two days tater. |
| M20) |
Kosmos
1374 / BOR-4 404 |
(20th military) |
3 Jun 82 |
S |
First testflight of the BOR-4
subscale versions of the Spiral manned spaceplane. After a circuit around
Earth, the craft deorbited, performed a gliding re-entry, followed by parachute
deployment and splashdown in the ocean. After 1¼ revolution, the
craft made a 600 km cross-range maneuver. It was recovered by Soviet naval
forces in the Indian Ocean, 560 km south of Cocos Islands. The recovery
was filmed by an Australian Orion reconnaissance aircraft, revealing the
configuration to the West for the first time. |
| 189) |
Soyuz
T-6 |
118th Soviet
(86th
human,
51st
Soviet) |
24 Jun 82 |
S |
Piloted (3 crewmembers): first
visiting crew to Salyut 7. Onboard was the first
non-communist passengers, a French “spationaut” who performed a week of
scientific experiments. |
| 190) |
STS-4
/ OFT-4 |
72nd
American
(87th
human,
36th
American) |
27 Jun 82 |
S |
Piloted (2 crewmembers): fourth
and final testflight of the Space Shuttle and the first mission to carry
payloads for the Department of Defense. It also included the first small
Get-Away Special low-cost easy-access-to-space experiments. After 7 days,
Columbia
landed for the first time on a concrete runway (instead of the dry lakebed)
at Edwards AFB. Following this successful flight, President Reagan declared
the Space Shuttle “operational.” |
| 191) |
Progress
14 |
119th Soviet |
10 Jul 82 |
S |
2nd cargo delivery to Salyut
7, carrying 2.3 tonnes of fuel, consumable materials and equipment.
The craft undocked from the station on 10 August, after 29½ days,
and was destroyed on 13 August. |
| 192) |
Soyuz
T-7 |
120th Soviet
(88th
human,
52nd
Soviet) |
19 Aug 82 |
S |
Piloted (3 crewmembers): second
visiting crew to Salyut 7, which carry the first
woman to fly in space since Valentina Terechkova
in 1963. This flight was set to upstage the first flight of an American
woman set for the following year. During a week, the
trio performed experiments with the resident crew and, at the end of its
flight, proceed to the exchange of the Soyuz return vehicle for the resident
crew. |
| 193) |
Progress
15 |
121st Soviet |
18 Sep 82 |
S |
3rd cargo delivery to Salyut
7, carrying 2.3 tonnes of fuel, consumable materials and equipment.
The craft undocked from the station on 14 October, after 24 days, and was
destroyed two days later. |
| 194) |
Progress
16 |
122nd Soviet |
31 Oct 82 |
S |
4th cargo delivery to Salyut
7, carrying 2.3 tonnes of fuel, consumable materials and equipment.
It also includes the small experimental amateur-radio satellite, Iskra
3, which was ejected through Salyut 7 waste disposal hatch on 18 November.
The craft undocked from the station on 13 December, after 41 days, and
was destroyed the day after. |
| 195) |
STS-5 |
73rd
American
(89th
human,
37th
American) |
11 Nov 82 |
S |
Piloted (4 crewmembers): first
operational flight of the Space Shuttle program. First piloted spaceship
to carry 4 crewmembers and two commercial satellites. SBS-3 and Anik C-3
comsats were ejected from the payload bay (another first) and put into
geostationary orbit using the PAM rocket-stage designed for the Shuttle.
A planned spacewalk was canceled when problems developed onboard with the
two EVA spacesuits.
Columbia returned from its fifth flight after
5 days. |
| 1
9 8 3 |
(9 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in 162 missions = 5½ %) |
| M21) |
Kosmos
1443 (TKS-M) |
(21st military) |
2 Mar
83 |
s |
Testflight of the
TKS manned ferry spacecraft. Docked to the forward port of Salyut
7 a week after launch and separated from it 163 days later. The 20-tonne
spacecraft carried some cargo to the station. The reentry capsule
separated itself from the TSK on 19 September and continued in space for
four days, demonstrating autonomous flight, before successfully reentering
on 23 September. It returned 350 kg of material from the station. |
| M22) |
Kosmos
1445 (BOR-4 ) |
(22nd military) |
15 Mar 83 |
S |
Second testflght of the BOR-4
subscale Spiral spaceplane. As for the
first
test, after 1¼ revolution, the craft deorbited and was recovered
by Soviet naval forces in the Indian Ocean, 556 km south of the Cocos Islands. |
| 196) |
STS-6 |
74th
American
(90th
human,
38th
American) |
4 Apr 83 |
S |
Piloted (4 crewmembers):
first flight of the second Space Shuttle Orbiter (Challenger). Mission's
main objective was to deploy NASA's first Tracking and Data Relay Satellite
(TDRS). The comsat initially failed to reach its geosynchronous orbit because
of an upper stage guidance error, but it was eventually maneuvered into
the correct position. The flight also feature the first spacewalk in the
Shuttle program: two men spent 4h10 testing the new spacesuits and mobility
aids and evaluating their own ability to work outside in the cargo bay.
The Orbiter landed safely after 5 days. |
| 197) |
Soyuz
T-8 |
123th Soviet
(91st
human,
53rd
Soviet) |
20 Apr 83 |
F |
Piloted (3 crewmembers): second
resident crew scheduled to live onboard
Salyut 7.
Unfortunately, the craft was unable to dock with the station because the
pylon supporting its rendezvous radar aerial had been damaged during launch
(possibly by the Soyuz rocket's shroud ejection). The crew had to return
to Earth after only two days. |
| 198) |
STS-7 |
75th
American
(92nd
human,
39th
American) |
18 Jun 83 |
S |
Piloted (5 crewmembers): the
first of a dozen week-long very complex (and often dramatic) Space Shuttle
missions executed prior to the Challengeraccident.
STS-7 had a record five people onboard, including Sally Ride, the first
American woman in space. In only 6 days, the astronauts released two communications
satellites (Anik C-2 and Palapa B-l) and deployed the German-built Shuttle
Pallet Satellite (SPAS) experiment platform, which took the first full
pictures of an Orbiter in space. They made rendezvouz exercice with the
craft and retrieved it with the Canadarm. They also activated a series
of materials processing experiments fixed in the cargo bay. Except for
the Commander, all the crewmembers were from the 1978 class of the first
astronauts chosen for the Space Shuttle program. |
| 199) |
Soyuz
T-9 |
124th Soviet
(93rd
human,
54th
Soviet) |
27 Jun 83 |
S |
Piloted (2 crewmembers): second
Salyut
7 resident crew which received, during its 150 days in space, only
two Progress resupply ships (as the first Soyuz T-10
missed its launch). The crew also take care of the Kosmos
1443 TKS visits to the station and made 2 spacewalks to add banks of
solar cells to Salyut 7 upper solar panel. |
| 200) |
Progress
17 |
125th Soviet |
17 Aug 83 |
S |
5th cargo delivery to Salyut
7, carrying 2.3 tonnes of fuel, consumable materials and equipment.
The craft undocked from the station on 17 September, after 29 days, and
was deorbited the same day. |
| 201) |
STS-8 |
76th
American
(94th
human,
40th
American) |
30 Aug 83 |
S |
Piloted (5 crewmembers): the
6-day mission featured the Shuttle program’s first night launch and landing,
as well as the first African American in space. The crew orbited Insat
1-B comsat, conducted the first tests of Shuttle-to-ground communications
with the new TDRS, and exercised the Canadarm with a test article weighing
3,384 kg. |
| 202) |
Soyuz'
"Sept, 26 Anomaly" |
126th Soviet
(95th
human,
55th
Soviet) |
26 Sep 83 |
F |
Piloted (2 crewmembers): the
first pad-abort in the history of the piloted spaceflight as the Soyuz
launcher caught fire on the pad. The crew was saved when their cabin was
pulled clear by the Soyuz emergency escape rocket. They landed heavily
some five kilometres from the launch pad. |
| 203) |
Progress
18 |
127th Soviet |
20 Oct 83 |
S |
6th cargo delivery to Salyut
7, carrying 2.3 tonnes of fuel, consumable materials and equipment.
On 4 November, it reboosted the station into a 326 x 356 km orbit. The
craft undocked from the station on 13 November, after 21½ days,
and was destroyed 3 days later. |
| 204) |
STS-9
/ Spacelab 1 |
77th
American
(96th
human,
41st
American) |
28 Nov 83 |
S |
Piloted (6 crewmembers): this
first flight of the European Spacelab multi-modular science laboratory.
The mission was a 10-day multidisciplinary science flight, with 73 experiments
in a wide range of fields, including space physics, materials processing,
life sciences, Earth and atmospheric studies, astronomy, and solar physics.
The record six-person crew included the first two Payload Specialists,
guest (scientists, foreigners, politicians) invited for special purpose.
One of the PS was West German's Ulf Merbold, who became the first non-U.S.
citizen to fly on an American spacecraft. |
| M23) |
Kosmos
1517 / BOR-4 405 |
(23rd military) |
27 Dec 83 |
S |
Third testflight of the BOR-4
subscale Spiral spaceplane. In a new mission profile, it braked out of
orbit over the South Atlantic and was recovered in the Black Sea after
one orbit. |
| 1
9 8 4 |
(13 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in 169 missions = 8 %) |
| 205) |
STS
41-B |
78th
American
(97th
human,
42nd
American) |
3 Feb
84 |
S |
Piloted (5 crewmembers):
this mission feature the first-ever untethered spacewalks. Two astronauts
tested the new MMU (Manned Maneuvering Unit) backpacks that allowed them
to travel as far as 97.5 meters from the orbiter. Two comsats deployed
(Westar V-I and Palapa B-2) failed to reach their proper orbits when their
PAM upper stages did not ignite. Both were later retrieved (on STS
51-A). After 8 days in space, Challenger made the first landing
at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. |
| 206) |
Soyuz
T-10 |
128th Soviet
(98th
human,
56th
Soviet) |
8 Feb 84 |
S |
Piloted (3 crewmembers): third
crew to live and work onboard Salyut 7. During
a record 237 days in space, the crew received two visiting crews and five
Progress resupply ships. It also performed a record of 6 spacewalks. During
five of them, the two astronauts performed surgical work on the outside
of the station to isolate the portion of the fuel line that was damaged
in September 1983 (apparently from a meteor strike) and installing a bypass
segment into the system. The crew also made an additional spacewalk to
add extra banks of solar cells to the right hand (when facing forward)
of Salyut 7 three solar panels. |
| 207) |
Progress
19 |
129th Soviet |
21 Feb 84 |
S |
7th cargo delivery to Salyut
7, carrying 2.3 tonnes of fuel, consumable materials and equipment.
The craft undocked from the station on 31 March, after 37 days, and was
destroyed a day later. |
| 208) |
Soyuz
T-11 |
130th Soviet
(99th
human,
57th
Soviet) |
3 Apr 84 |
S |
Piloted (3 crewmembers): third
visiting crew to Salyut 7, which carried the second
(and last) international crew to the station, an Indian citizen. The visiting
crew performed a week of scientific experiments with the resident. |
| 209) |
STS
41-C |
79th
American
(100th
human,
43rd
American) |
6 Apr 84 |
S |
Piloted (5 crewmembers): the
first repair mission of the Shutle program. The crew rendezvoused and retrieved
the Solar Maximum Mission satellite which had failed after four years of
operations. With the satellite anchored in the cargo bay, two spacewalking
astronauts replaced a faulty attitude control system and one science
instrument, and the repaired Solar Max was placed back into orbit. The
crew also deployed the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF), a bus-size
passive satellite for testing the effects of space exposure on different
materials. Originally, LDEF was to have remained in orbit for only 10 months,
but it was retrieved six years later on STS-32, due
to the Challengeraccident. |
| 210) |
Progress
20 |
131st Soviet |
15 Apr 84 |
S |
8th cargo delivery to Salyut
7, carrying 2.3 tonnes of fuel, consumable materials and equipment.
The craft undocked from the station on 6 May, after 19 days, and was destroyed
a day later. |
| 211) |
Progress
21 |
132nd Soviet |
7 May 84 |
S |
9th cargo delivery to Salyut
7, carrying 2.3 tonnes of fuel, consumable materials and equipment.
The craft undocked from the station on 26 May, after 16½ days, and
was destroyed the same day. |
| 212) |
Progress
22 |
133rd Soviet |
28 May 84 |
S |
10th cargo delivery to Salyut
7, carrying 2.3 tonnes of fuel, consumable materials and equipment.
The craft undocked from the station on 15 July, after 46 days, and was
destroyed the same day. |
| 213) |
Progress
23 |
134th Soviet |
14 Aug 84 |
S |
11th cargo delivery to Salyut
7, carrying 2.3 tonnes of fuel, consumable materials and equipment.
The craft undocked from the station on 26 August, after 10 days, and was
destroyed two days later. |
| 214) |
Soyuz
T-12 |
135th Soviet
(101st
human,
58th
Soviet) |
17 Jul 84 |
S |
Piloted (3 crewmembers): fourth
visiting crew to Salyut 7, carrying for the second
time Svetlana Savitskaya. She thus became the first woman to fly two times
in space and she performed the first spacewalks by a female. Her mission
upstages the upcoming second flight of Sally Ride and of the first EVA
by an American women (both schedule for STS 41-G). |
| 215) |
STS
41-D |
80th
American
(102nd
human,
44th
American) |
30 Aug 84 |
S |
Piloted (6 crewmembers): the
first flight of Discovery and the first Shuttle mission to deploy
three comsats: Syncom IV-2, SBS-4 and Telstar 3-C. The crew also experimented
with a 31-meter-high solar cell array, which was unfurled from a stowage
container located in the cargo bay. The experiments included testing the
structure’s stability when the Orbiter’s attitude control engines were
fired. Charles Walker, a McDonnell Douglas engineer, was the Shuttle’s
first commercially sponsored Payload Specialist, on board to tend to the
company’s Continuous Flow Electrophoresis System for separating materials
in microgravity. |
| 216) |
STS
41-G |
81st
American
(103rd
human,
45th
American) |
5 Oct 84 |
S |
Piloted (7 crewmembers). carried
a suite of instruments (including a radar) dedicated to Earth observation
- the primary purpose of this mission. Also, during a spacewalk, two astronauts
- one being the first American woman - tested connections for an orbital
refueling system. Also, this first-ever 7-people crew included two Payload
Specialists: a Navy oceanographer (who observed ocean dynamics from orbit)
and the first Canadian in space. Crew Commander Crippen made his fourth
flight in only 2½ years, his second in six months (and Sally Ride
made her second flight). |
| 217) |
STS
51-A |
82nd
American
(104th
human,
46th
American) |
8 Nov 84 |
S |
Piloted (5 crewmembers): This
mission, which delivered two satellites into orbit (Anik D-2 and Syncom
IV-I), also feature one of the spectacular rescue mission of the Space
Shuttle program, returning back to Earth Palapa B-2 and Westar V-I, whose
onboard boosters had failed after being deployed on STS
41-B. In two dramatic spacewalks using the MMU backpacks, two astronauts
each docked with one of the satellite, stopped its rotation, then assisted
as it was stowed in Discovery’s cargo bay by the Canadarm. Both
satellites were later refurbished on the ground and relaunched. |
| M24) |
Kosmos
1614 / BOR-4 406 |
(24th military) |
19 Dec 84 |
S |
Fourth and final flight of
the BOR-4 subscale test versions of the Spiral manned spaceplane. Recovered
in the Black Sea after one orbit. |
| 1
9 8 5 |
(11 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in 173 missions = 6 %) |
| M25) |
STS
51-C |
(25th military)
(105th
human,
48th
American) |
24
Jan 85 |
S |
Piloted (5 crewmembers):
first Shuttle-dedicated military flight. For the first time in the US history,
a piloted mission was completely executed “in the dark,” no information
was ever published, even the exact launch time prior to liftoff. The cargo
and details of the mission are still maintained classified, but during
this short (3-day) mission, the crew reportedly placed into orbit a Magnum
electronic intelligence (spy) satellite for the National Reconnaissance
Office. |
| 218) |
STS
51-D |
83rd
American
(106th
human,
49th
American) |
12 Apr 85 |
S |
Piloted (7 crewmembers), another
dramatic (and improvised) mission. First, the crew release into orbit two
comsats, Anik C-l and Syncom IV-3. But when the upper stage attached to
Syncom failed to ignite, the crew, with the help of engineers on the ground,
attempted a fix. Two astronauts made an unscheduled spacewalk to attach
an improvised “flyswatter” device to the Canadarm in the hope that it could
trip the satellite booster’s sequence start lever. The plan failed. (However,
the satellite was eventually “jump-started” on STS 51-I).
Utah Senator Jake Garn became the first member of Congress to fly in space. |
| 219) |
STS
51-B / Spacelab 3 |
84th
American
(107th
human,
50th
American) |
29 Apr 85 |
S |
Piloted (7 crewmembers): Space
Shuttle’s second Spacelab mission. It included 15 experiments in topics
including materials processing, fluid behavior, atmospheric physics, astronomy
and life sciences. During 7 days, the astronauts worked around the clock
in shifts. They had trouble with a leaky animal-holding facility that was
making its first (and only) test flight. |
| 220) |
Soyuz
T-13 |
136th Soviet
(108th
human,
59th
Soviet) |
6 Jun 85 |
S |
Piloted (2 crewmembers): a
rescue team launched to salvage Salyut 7 since,
on 11 February, a ground controller accidentally cut off all communications
with the station. Salyut 7 was “dead” and out of control. For the first
time ever, a crew manually docked to a totally disabled space station.
When the cosmonauts entered, they found the station with no lights, heat,
power or radio equipment working. Large icicles hung from the life support
system pipes and all water aboard had frozen. After an intense operation
to rehabilitate the station, Salyut 7 was put back in working order, the
crew making a magnificent job. In September, the commander returned to
Earth after 112 days, as the flight engineer stayed behind with the new
resident
crew (for 168 days). |
| 221) |
STS
51-G |
85th
American
(109th
human,
51st
American) |
17 Jun 85 |
S |
Piloted (7 crewmembers), which
successfully deployed 3 comsats (Morelos 1, Arabsat 1-B and Telstar 3-D)
as well as the SPARTAN-I, a reusable, free-flying payload carrier with
astronomy instruments onboard. The crew conducted materials science and
biomedical experiments and participated in a Defense Department tracking
experiment in which a laser beam directed from Hawaii was bounced from
a reflector onboard Discovery back to the ground. The mission also
feature two international Payload Spacecialists: a French astronaut and
a Saudi Arabian prince. |
| 222) |
Progress
24 |
137th Soviet |
21 Jun 85 |
S |
12th cargo delivery to Salyut
7, carrying 2.3 tonnes of fuel, consumable materials and equipment.
The craft undocked from the station on 15 July, after 22½ days,
and was destroyed the same day. |
| 223) |
Kosmos
1669 (Progress) |
138th Soviet |
19 Jul 85 |
? |
Apparently, this Progress cargoship
was given a Kosmos designation because control was lost early in mission.
(An alternative possibility is that there could have been an administrative
confusion since a month after this Cosmos 1669, a TKS spacecraft that got
the name Kosmos 1686 was launched. There is
thus a possibility that the publicity system confused the two craft and,
thinking the TKS had been launched rather than the Progress, applied the
next available Kosmos number.) Whatever happened, the Progress craft docked
to Salyut 7 on 21 July, brigning 2.3 tonnes of
ressuply. Thirty-eight days later, on departure from the station, the craft
briefly undocked and redocked to verify reliability of the system. It finally
left the station on 28 August and was destroyed two days later. |
| 224) |
STS
51-F / Spacelab 2 |
86th
American
(110th
human,
52nd
American) |
29 Jul 85 |
S |
Piloted (7 crewmembers): the
third Spacelab mission, dedicated to astronomy. During launch ascent, Challenger
made the Shuttle program’s first “abort to orbit” when one of its three
main engines shut down. The Orbiter placed itself into a lower than planned
orbit, but from which the science mission was done successfully. In this
Spacelab 2 mission, the enclosed Spacelab’s habitable module was replaced
by open pallets containing 13 instruments. During 7 days, and despite problems
with an instrument pointing system, the crew was able to collect data on
the Sun and other celestial targets. |
| 225) |
STS
51-I |
87th
American
(111th
human,
53rd
American) |
27 Aug 85 |
S |
Piloted (5 crewmembers): one
of the most challenging mission in the Shuttle program. But first, the
crew launched three comsats (ASC 1, AUSSAT I and Syncom IV-4) and then
rescued the Syncom IV-3 satellite stranded in orbit on STS
51-D. The craft was repaired and reboosted as a result of two spacewalks
during which astronauts grabbed the satellite manually and installed it
in Discovery’s cargo bay. They then attached hardware that allowed
ground crews to activate Syncom’s still-live rocket motor after it was
released it into orbit. A brilliant performance. |
| 226) |
Soyuz
T-14 |
139th Soviet
(102th
human,
60th
Soviet) |
17 Sep 85 |
S |
Piloted (3 crewmembers): fifth
(and final) resident crew onboard Salyut 7, and
the first crew hand-over between resident crews. A two-man crew replaced
the fourth Salyut 7 commander (as its flight enginneer stay onboard). During
their short (64-day) mission, the residents received no visiting crew and
no Progress ressuply ship and performed no spacewalk. But it received the
new 20-ton TKS add-on module (Kosmos 1686).
The mission was cut short for medical reason; the station commander (Vasyutin)
succumbed to depression. |
| M26) |
Kosmos
1686 (TKS-M) |
(26th military) |
27 Sep 85 |
S |
Following the cancellation
of TKS military manned ferry program, this TKS craft was modified with
all landing systems removed from the reentry capsule and replaced with
military optical sensor experiments (infrared telescope and Ozon spectrometer).
The module docket with Salyut 7 and stayed with
the station until the complex burned up in the atmosphere on 7 February
1991. |
| M27) |
STS
51-J |
(27th military)
(103th
human,
47th
American) |
3 Oct 85 |
S |
Piloted (5 crewmembers):
The first flight of Atlantis was the second Shuttle mission dedicated
to the Department of Defense. The payload and on-board activities are still
classified. During a short (4-day) “in the dark mission,” the crew reportedly
released two DSCS communications satellites. |
| 227) |
STS
61-A / Spacelab D-1 |
88th
American
(114th
human,
54th
American) |
30 Oct 85 |
S |
Piloted (8 crewmembers), the
first U.S. manned spaceflight with a primary payload sponsored by another
country (West Germany). It's also the only 8-person crew ever launched.
On board this Spacelab D-1 mission were 76 experiments to investigate fluid
physics, materials science, plant physiology, and human adaptation to weightlessness.
Science experiments were directed from the German Space Operations Center
and two of the Payload Specialists were German. The crew worked 24-hour-a-day
during this 7 days mission. |
| 228) |
STS
61-B |
89th
American
(115th
human,
55th
American) |
27 Nov 85 |
S |
Piloted (7 crewmembers). After
the crew deployed three comsats (Satcom Ku-2, Morelos 2 and AUSSAT-2),
two spacewalkers conducted the first construction experiments in space,
assembling and disassembling two Tinkertoy-like structures called Experimental
Assembly of Structures in Extravehicular Activity (EASE) and Assembly Concept
for Construction of Erectable Space Structures (ACCESS) in the cargo bay
of Atlantis. They attached beams, nodes, and struts to evaluate
different methods of assembling large structures in space. One of the Payload
Spacialist was a Mexican citizen, as the other, Charles Walker, was making
his third flight in only 15 months. |
| 1
9 8 6 |
(7 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in 151 missions = 5 %) |
| 229) |
STS
61-C |
90th
American
(116th
human,
56th
American) |
12
Jan 86 |
S |
Piloted (7 crewmembers),
which deployed the RCA Satcom K-1 comsat and conducted a number of smaller
experiments, including several materials science investigations mounted
in the cargo bay of Columbia. An attempt to photograph Comet Halley
was unsuccessful due to problems with the instrument’s battery. Florida
Representative Bill Nelson was the second (and last) member of Congress
to fly on the Shuttle. |
| 230) |
STS
51-L |
91st
American
(117th
human,
57th
American) |
28 Jan 86 |
F |
Piloted (7 crewmembers): the
tragic flight in which the crew lost its life following the destruction
of Challenger 73 seconds into the flight. The tragedy was the result
of a leak in one of two Solid Rocket Boosters. The crew included 5 NASA
astronauts and two Payload Spacialists: Gregory Jarvis, a Hughes employee,
and Christa McAuliffe, the designated first Teacher in Space.
The
Shuttle program was grounded for 2½ years while the boosters were
redesigned and other safety measures were added. A change in U.S. space
policy also resulted from the accident: no longer would the Shuttle carry
commercial satellites into orbit (and neither guest passengers). |
| 231) |
Mir |
140th Soviet |
20 Feb 86 |
S |
1st orbital space complex.
Mir was boarded by 28 resident crews for 12½ years of its 15-year
existence. It also received 26 visiting crews (9 were from American Space
Shuttle). It was maintained continuously manned from September 1989 to
August 1999 (10 years minus two weeks), even despite the collapse of the
Soviet Union and the chaotic birth of the Russian Federation. In all, Mir
received 136 visitors (101 different people), comprising 42 Russians as
well as 42 Americans, 12 Europeans and 7 citizens from other countries.
Five large specialized modules were added to the Mir core module and the
complex was resupplied by 64 Progress cargoships (which delivered some
150 tons of supplies). Mir is thus considered the first truly International
space station and the most impressive achievement of the whole Soviet/Russian
space program. |
| 232) |
Soyuz
T-15 |
141st Soviet
(118th
human,
61st
Soviet) |
13 Mar 86 |
S |
Piloted (2 crewmembers): the
first expedition (EO-1) to Mir space station. During
their first 51-days onboard, the two cosmonauts unpacted and put into service
the equipment of the new station. They also unloaded two Progress spacecraft.
On 5 May, they undocked from Mir to journey toward
Salyut-7,
which was some 4,000 km ahead of Mir. The crossing required 29 hours and
the docking occured on 6 May. This was the only flight in history by a
single spacecraft between two space stations. Salyut-7 was found to be
ice bound and without electrical power. The crew repaired the station,
regaining power, heat and environmental control. During the 50 days it
spend onboard the old station, the crew conducted two spacewalks (to retrive
exterior experiments) and collected experiment results, apparatus and samples
of materials left behind by the Soyuz T-14 crew.
It also removed to bring to Mir 20 instruments with a total mass of 400
kg from Salyut 7, including a multichannel spectrometer, before returning
to Mir. On 25 June, Soyuz T-15 undocked from the Salyut and began the 29-hr
journey back to Mir. The crew then spent 20 days onboard, conducting Earth
observations. (This mission was the last to use the Soyuz T, which was
replaced by the Soyuz TM.) |
| 233) |
Progress
25 |
142nd Soviet |
19 Mar 86 |
S |
1st cargo delivery to Mir,
carrying 2.3 tonnes of fuel, consumable materials and equipment. The craft
undocked from the station on 20 April, after 30 days, and was destroyed
the next day. |
| 234) |
Progress
26 |
143rd Soviet |
23 Apr 86 |
S |
2nd cargo delivery to Mir,
carrying 2.3 tonnes of fuel, consumable materials and equipment. The carft
endezvoused with the station on 25 April, but problem with Mir's radio
communication system delays docking until the next day. It undocked from
the station on 22 June, after 57 days, and was destroyed the next day. |
| 235) |
Soyuz
TM |
144th Soviet |
21 May 86 |
S |
Unmanned testflight of a modernized
version of the Soyuz T with new docking and rendezvous, radio communications,
emergency and integrated parachute/landing engine systems. It used a more
durable metal body and lighter heat shield material. The lighter rendezvous
system and improved launch escape tower permitted higher payloads, or more
maneuvering propellant to be carried. This first Soyuz TM craft docked
with Mir on 23 May (while the station was vacated by
the Soyuz T-15 crew), undocked on 29 May, and
was recovered the day after. |
| 1
9 8 7 |
(11 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in 141 missions = 8 %) |
| 236) |
Progress
27 |
145th Soviet |
16
Jan 87 |
S |
3rd cargo delivery
to Mir, carrying 2.3 tonnes of fuel, consumable materials
and equipment. The craft boosted Mir's mean altitude by 16 km, to 345 km,
in preparation for the launch of the second resident
crew. It undocked from the station on 23 February, after 36 days, and was
destroyed two days later. |
| 237) |
Soyuz
TM-2 |
146th Soviet
(119th
human,
62nd
Soviet) |
5 Feb 87 |
S |
Piloted (2 crewmembers): the
second expedition to Mir (EO-2) which, during its 11-month
mission, received the first add-on module (Kvant),
a visiting crew and a record of seven Progress
freighters, and also performed three spacewalks.
Following
Kvant inhability to soft-dock with the station,
the crew had to exit from Mir to solved the problem. They discovered a
foreign object, disloged it and then Kvant could be mated solidly with
the station. The crew used the new facility to make astronomical observations:
in paticular, the Roentgen Observatory on Kvant was uniquely placed to
study Supernova 1987a in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The crew examined
the exploding star during 115 sessions between June and September. It also
conducted medical experiments and Earth resources photography. The crew
performed two more spacewalks to install the solar array delivered by Kvant.
In the middle part of the mission, Flight Engineer Laveykin developed some
heart irregularities which made necessary his early return to Earth. He
was replaced by Soyuz TM-3 Flight Engineer Alexandrov,
who remained onboard with Commander Romanenko. The latter established long-duration
record in space of 326 days when its crew was relieved by the third
resident crew. |
| 238) |
Progress
28 |
147th Soviet |
3 Mar 87 |
S |
4th cargo delivery to Mir,
carrying 2.3 tonnes of fuel, consumable materials and equipment. The craft
undocked from the station on 26 March, after 21 days, and was destroyed
two days later. |
| 239) |
Kvant |
148th Soviet |
31 Mar 87 |
S |
1st module added to the Mir
base bloc, adding 40 cubic-metres of pressurised volume to orbital complex,
bringing the total to about 130 cubic-metres. It contained scientific instruments
for astrophysical observations and materials science experiments. It also
carried more life support systems, including an Elektron oxygen generator,
an extra solar panel (which was deployed on the core module in June 1987).
Adding this module to Mir was not easy. For this maneuver, the 11-ton Kvant
was couple with a tug called the Functional Service Module. On April 5,
the first docking attempt failed whent the combination passed within 10
metres of the station. It than drifted 400 km from Mir before being guided
back for a second attempt. Soft-dock occurred on 9 April, but Kvant’s probe
would not retract fully, preventing hard docking. On 11 April, Soyuz
TM-2 crew exited from Mir to examine the docking unit and discovered
a foreign object lodged there (probably a trash bag left between Progress
28 and Mir’s drogue). On command from the ground, Kvant extended its probe
unit, permitting the cosmonauts to pull the object free and discard it
into space. Kvant then successfully completed hard-docking. The FSM was
separated from Kvant on 12 April, freeing the module’s aft docking port. |
| 240) |
Progress
29 |
149th Soviet |
21 Apr 87 |
S |
5th cargo delivery to Mir,
carrying 2.3 tonnes of fuel, consumable materials and equipment. The craft
undocked from the station on 11 May, after 17½ days, and was destroyed
the same day. |
| 241) |
Progress
30 |
150th Soviet |
26 May 87 |
S |
6th cargo delivery to Mir,
carrying 2.3 tonnes of fuel, consumable materials and equipment. The craft
undocked from the station on 19 July, after 59 days, and was destroyed
the same day. |
| 242) |
Soyuz
TM-3 |
151st Soviet
(120th
human,
63rd
Soviet) |
22 Jul 87 |
S |
Piloted (3 crewmembers): first
visiting crew to Mir (EP-1), with a Syrian citizen,
the 12th foreign guest to a Soviet space station. During a week onboard
Mir, the visitors observed Syria and conducted materials processing experiments.
The mission also served to replace the Soyuz return vehicle for the resident
crew, and to replace the resident Flight Engineer. |
| 243) |
Progress
31 |
152nd Soviet |
4 Aug 87 |
S |
7th cargo delivery to Mir,
carrying 2.3 tonnes of fuel, consumable materials and equipment. The craft
undocked from the station on 21 September, after 47 days, and was destroyed
two days later. |
| 244) |
Progress
32 |
153rd Soviet |
24 Sep 87 |
S |
8th cargo delivery to Mir,
carrying 2.3 tonnes of fuel (850 kg), consumable materials (315 kg of food)
and equipment . The craft undocked on 10 November, then redocked the same
day. It finally undocked on 17 November, after 53 days, and was destroyed
two days later. |
| 245) |
Progress
33 |
154th Soviet |
21 Nov 87 |
S |
9th cargo delivery to Mir,
carrying 2.3 tonnes of fuel, consumable materials and equipment. The craft
undocked from the station on 19 December, after 26 days, and was destroyed
the same day. |
| 246) |
Soyuz
TM-4 |
155th Soviet
(121st
human,
64th
Soviet) |
21 Dec 87 |
S |
Piloted (3 crewmembers): the
third resident two-men crew onboard Mir (EO-3) and the
first ever to spend a year in orbite (365 days, 22 hours and 39 minutes).
During its mission, the crew received a visiting crew and were ressupplied
by five Progress cargoships and performed 3 spacewalks. |
| 1
9 8 8 |
(11 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in 155 missions = 7 %) |
| 247) |
Progress
34 |
156th Soviet |
21
Jan 88 |
|
|
| 248) |
Progress
35 |
157th Soviet |
24 Mar 88 |
|
|
| 249) |
Progress
36 |
158th Soviet |
13 May 88 |
|
|
| 250) |
Soyuz
TM-5 |
159th Soviet
(122nd
human,
65th
Soviet) |
7 Jun 88 |
|
|
| 251) |
Progress
37 |
160th Soviet |
19 Jul 88 |
|
|
| 252) |
Soyuz
TM-6 |
161st Soviet
(123rd
human,
66th
Soviet) |
29 Aug 88 |
|
|
| 253) |
Progress
38 |
162nd Soviet |
10 Sep 88 |
|
|
| 254) |
STS-26 |
92nd
American
(124th
human,
58th
American) |
29 Sep 88 |
|
|
| 255) |
Buran
F-1 |
163rd Soviet |
15 Nov 88 |
|
|
| 256) |
Soyuz
TM-7 |
164th Soviet
(125th
human,
67th
Soviet) |
26 Nov 88 |
|
|
| M28) |
STS-27 |
(28th military
(126th
human,
59th
American) |
2 Dec 88 |
|
|
| 257) |
Progress
39 |
165th Soviet |
25 Dec 88 |
|
|
| 1
9 8 9 |
(9 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in 139 missions = 6½ %) |
| 258) |
Progress
40 |
166th Soviet |
10
Feb 89 |
|
|
| 259) |
STS-29 |
93rd
American
(127th
human,
60th
American) |
13 Mar 89 |
|
|
| 260) |
Progress
41 |
167th Soviet |
16 Mar 89 |
|
|
| 261) |
STS-30 |
94th
American
(128th
human,
61st
American) |
4 May 89 |
|
|
| M29) |
STS-28 |
(29th military)
(129th
human,
62nd
American) |
8 Aug 89 |
|
|
| 262) |
Progress
M-1 |
168th Soviet |
23 Aug 89 |
|
|
| 263) |
Soyuz
TM-8 |
169th Soviet
(130th
human,
68th
Soviet) |
5 Sep 89 |
|
|
| 264) |
STS-34 |
95th
American
(131st
human,
63rd
American) |
18 Oct 89 |
|
|
| M30) |
STS-33 |
(30th military)
(132nd
human,
64th
American) |
23 Nov 89 |
|
|
| 365) |
Kvant
2 |
170th Soviet |
26 Nov 89 |
|
|
| 266) |
Progress
M-2 |
171st Soviet |
20 Dec 89 |
|
|
| 1
9 9 0 |
(12 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in 173 missions = 7 %) |
| 267) |
STS-32 |
96th
American
(133rd
human,
65th
American) |
9 Jan
90 |
|
|
| 368) |
Soyuz
TM-9 |
172nd Soviet
(134th
human,
69th
Soviet) |
11 Feb 90 |
|
|
| M31 |
STS-36 |
(31st military)
(135th
human,
66th
American) |
28 Feb 90 |
|
|
| 269) |
Progress
M-3 |
173rd Soviet |
1st Mar 90 |
|
|
| 270) |
STS-31 |
97th
American
(136th
human,
67th
American) |
24 Apr 90 |
|
|
| 271) |
Progress
42 |
174th Soviet |
6 May 90 |
|
|
| 272) |
Kristall |
175th Soviet |
31 May 90 |
|
|
| 273) |
Soyuz
TM-10 |
176th Soviet
(137th
human,
70th
Soviet) |
1 Aug 90 |
|
|
| 274) |
Progress
M-4 |
177th Soviet |
15 Aug 90 |
|
|
| 275) |
Progress
M-5 |
178th Soviet |
27 Sep 90 |
|
|
| 276) |
STS-41 |
98th
American
(138th
human,
68th
American) |
6 Oct 90 |
|
|
| M32 |
STS-38 |
(32nd military)
(139th
human,
69th
American) |
15 Nov 90 |
|
|
| 277) |
STS-35
- Astro 1 |
99th
American
(140th
human,
70th
American) |
2 Dec 90 |
|
|
| 278) |
Soyuz
TM-11 |
179th Soviet
(141st
human,
71st
Soviet) |
2 Dec 90 |
|
|
| 1
9 9 1 |
(11 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in 143 missions = 8 %) |
| 279) |
Progress
M-6 |
180th Soviet |
14
Jan 91 |
|
|
| 280) |
Progress
M-7 |
181st Soviet |
19 Mar 91 |
|
|
| M33) |
STS-37 |
(33rd military)
(142nd
human,
71st
American) |
5 Apr 91 |
|
|
| 281) |
STS-39 |
100th
American
(143rd
human,
72nd
American) |
28 Apr 91 |
|
|
| 282) |
Soyuz
TM-12 |
182nd Soviet
(144th
human,
72nd
Soviet) |
18 May 91 |
|
|
| 283) |
Progress
M-8 |
183rd Soviet |
30 May 91 |
|
|
| 284) |
STS-40
- SLS 1 |
101st
American
(145th
human,
73th
American) |
5 Jun 91 |
|
|
| 285) |
STS-43 |
102nd
American
(146th
human,
74th
American) |
2 Aug 91 |
|
|
| 286) |
Progress
M-9 |
184th Soviet |
21 Aug 91 |
|
|
| 287) |
STS-48 |
103rd
American
(147th
human,
75th
American) |
12 Sep 91 |
|
|
| 288) |
Soyuz
TM-13 |
185th Soviet
(148th
human,
73rd
Soviet) |
2 Oct 91 |
|
|
| 289) |
Progress
M-10 |
186th Soviet |
17 Oct 91 |
|
|
| M34) |
STS-44 |
(34th military)
(149th
human,
76th
American) |
25 Nov 91 |
|
|
| 1
9 9 2 |
(14 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in 135 missions = 10 %) |
| 290) |
STS-42
-- IML-1 |
104th
American
(150th
human,
77th
American) |
22
Jan 92 |
|
|
| 291) |
Progress
M-11 |
187th Russian |
25 Jan 92 |
|
|
| 292) |
Soyuz
TM-14 |
188th Russian
(151st
human,
74th
Soviet) |
17 Mar 92 |
|
|
| 293) |
STS-45
- Atlas-1 |
105th
American
(152nd
human,
78th
American) |
24 Mar 92 |
|
|
| 294) |
Progress
M-12 |
189th Russian |
20 Apr 92 |
|
|
| 295) |
STS-49 |
106th
American
(153rd
human,
79th
American) |
7 May 92 |
|
|
| 296) |
STS-50
- USML-1 |
107th
American
(154th
human,
80th
American) |
25 Jun 92 |
|
|
| 297) |
Progress
M-13 |
190th Russian |
30 Jun 92 |
|
|
| 298) |
Soyuz
TM-15 |
191st Russian
(155th
human,
75th
Soviet) |
27 Jul 92 |
|
|
| 299) |
STS-46
- TSS-1 |
108th
American
(156th
human,
81st
American) |
31 Jul 92 |
|
|
| 300) |
Progress
M-14 |
192nd Russian |
16 Aug 92 |
|
|
| 301) |
STS-47
- Spacelab-J |
109th
American
(157th
human,
82nd
American) |
12 Sep 92 |
|
|
| 302) |
STS-52
- USML-1 |
110th
American
(158th
human,
83rd
American) |
22 Oct 92 |
|
|
| 303) |
Progress
M-15 |
193rd Russian |
27 Oct 92 |
|
|
| M35) |
STS-53 |
(35th military)
(159th
human,
84th
American) |
2 Dec 92 |
|
|
| 1
9 9 3 |
(14 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in 118 missions = 12 %) |
| 304) |
STS-54 |
111th
American
(160th
human,
85th
American) |
13
Jan 93 |
|
|
| 305) |
Soyuz
TM-16 |
194th Russian
(161st
human,
76th
Soviet) |
24 Jan 93 |
|
|
| 306) |
Progress
M-16 |
195th Russian |
21 Feb 93 |
|
|
| 307) |
Progress
M-17 |
196th Russian |
31 Mar 93 |
|
|
| 308) |
STS-56
- Atlas-2 |
112th
American
(162nd
human,
86th
American) |
8 Apr 93 |
|
|
| 309) |
STS-55
- Spacelab-D2 |
113th
American
(163rd
human,
87th
American) |
25 Apr 93 |
|
|
| 310) |
Progress
M-18 |
197th Russian |
22 May 93 |
|
|
| 311) |
STS-57 |
114th
American
(164th
human,
88th
American) |
21 Jun 93 |
|
|
| 312) |
Soyuz
TM-17 |
198th Russian
(165th
human,
77th
Soviet) |
1st Jul 93 |
|
|
| 313) |
Progress
M-19 |
199th Russian |
11 Aug 93 |
|
|
| 314) |
STS-51 |
115th
American
(165th
human,
89th
American) |
12 Sep 93 |
|
|
| 315) |
Progress
M-20 |
200th Russian |
12 Oct 93 |
|
|
| 316) |
STS-58
- SLS-2 |
116th
American
(167th
human,
90th
American) |
18 Oct 93 |
|
|
| 317) |
STS-61 |
117th
American
(168th
human,
91th
American) |
2 Dec 93 |
|
|
| 1
9 9 4 |
(15 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in 130 missions = 11½ %) |
| 318) |
Soyuz
TM-18 |
201st Russian
(169th
human,
78th
Soviet) |
8 Jan
94 |
|
Valeriy Polyakov, a doctor,
set the world's endurance record for continuous time spent in space: 438
days. |
| 319) |
Progress
M-21 |
202nd Russian |
26 Jan 94 |
|
|
| 320) |
STS-60 |
118th
American
(170th
human,
92nd
American) |
3 Feb 94 |
|
|
| 321) |
STS-62
- USMP-2 |
119th
American
(171st
human,
93rd
American) |
4 Mar 94 |
|
|
| 322) |
Progress
M-22 |
203rd Russian |
22 Mar 94 |
|
|
| 323) |
STS-59
- SRL-1 |
120th
American
(172nd
human,
94th
American) |
9 Apr 94 |
|
|
| 324) |
Progress
M-23 |
204th Russian |
22 May 94 |
|
|
| 325) |
Soyuz
TM-19 |
205th Russian
(173rd
human,
79th
Soviet) |
1st Jul 94 |
|
|
| 326) |
STS-65
- IML-2 |
121st
American
(174th
human,
95th
American) |
8 Jul 94 |
|
|
| 327) |
Progress
M-24 |
206th Russian |
25 Aug 94 |
|
|
| 328) |
STS-64
- LITE 1 |
122nd
American
(175th
human,
96th
American) |
9 Sep 94 |
|
|
| 329) |
STS-68
- SRL-2 |
123rd
American
(176th
human,
97th
American) |
30 Sep 94 |
|
|
| 330) |
Soyuz
TM-20 |
207th Russian
(177th
human,
80th
Soviet) |
3 Oct 94 |
|
|
| 331) |
STS-66
- Atlas-3 |
124th
American
(178th
human,
98th
American) |
3 Nov 94 |
|
|
| 332) |
Progress
M-25 |
208th Russian |
11 Nov 94 |
|
|
| 1
9 9 5 |
(16 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in 113 missions = 14 %) |
| 333) |
STS-63 |
125th
American
(179th
human,
99th
American) |
3 Feb
95 |
|
|
| 334) |
Progress
M-26 |
209th Russian |
15 Feb 95 |
|
|
| 335) |
STS-67
- Astro-2 |
126th
American
(180th
human,
100th
American) |
2 Mar 95 |
|
|
| 336) |
Soyuz
TM-21 |
210th Russian
(181st
human,
81st
Soviet) |
14 Mar 95 |
|
|
| 337) |
Progress
M-27 |
211th Russian |
9 Apr 95 |
|
|
| 338) |
Spektr |
212th Russian |
20 May 95 |
|
|
| 339) |
STS-71 |
127th
American
(182nd
human,
101st
American
+ 183rd
human,
+ 82nd
Soviet) |
27 Jun 95 |
|
|
| 340) |
STS-70 |
128th
American
(184th
human,
102nd
American) |
13 Jul 95 |
|
|
| 341) |
Progress
M-28 |
213th Russian |
20 Jul 95 |
|
|
| 342) |
Soyuz
TM-22 |
214th Russian
(185th
human,
83rd
Soviet) |
3 Sep 95 |
|
|
| 343) |
STS-69 |
129th
American
(186th
human,
103rd
American) |
7 Sep 95 |
|
|
| 344) |
Progress
M-29 |
215th Russian |
8 Oct 95 |
|
|
| 345) |
STS-73
- USML-2 |
130th
American
(187th
human,
104th
American) |
20 Oct 95 |
|
|
| 346) |
STS-74 |
131st
American
(188th
human,
105th
American) |
12 Nov 95 |
|
|
| 347) |
Stikovochniy
Otsek |
216th Russian |
12 Nov 95 |
|
|
| 348) |
Progress
M-30 |
217th Russian |
18 Dec 95 |
|
|
| 1
9 9 6 |
(13 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in 112 missions = 12 %) |
| 349) |
STS-72 |
132nd
American
(189th
human,
106th
American) |
11
Jan 96 |
|
|
| 350) |
Soyuz
TM-23 |
218th Russian
(190th
human,
84th
Soviet) |
21 Feb 96 |
|
|
| 351) |
STS-75 |
133rd
American
(191st
human,
107th
American) |
22 Feb 96 |
|
|
| 352) |
STS-76 |
134th
American
(192nd
human,
108th
American) |
22 Mar 96 |
|
|
| 353) |
Priroda |
219th Russian |
23 Apr 96 |
|
|
| 354) |
Progress
M-31 |
220th Russian |
5 May 96 |
|
|
| 355) |
STS-77 |
135th
American
(193rd
human,
109th
American) |
19 May 96 |
|
|
| 356) |
STS-78
- LMS-1 |
136th
American
(194th
human,
110th
American) |
20 Jun 96 |
|
|
| 357) |
Progress
M-32 |
221st Russian |
31 Jul 96 |
|
|
| 358) |
Soyuz
TM-24 |
222nd Russian
(195th
human,
85th
Soviet) |
17 Aug 96 |
|
|
| 359) |
STS-79 |
137th
American
(196th
human,
111th
American) |
16 Sep 96 |
|
|
| 360) |
STS-80 |
138th
American
(197th
human,
112th
American) |
19 Nov 96 |
|
|
| 361) |
Progress
M-33 |
223rd Russian |
19 Nov 96 |
|
|
| 1
9 9 7 |
(14 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in 158 missions = 9 %) |
| 362) |
STS-81 |
139th
American
(198th
human,
113th
American) |
12
Jan 97 |
|
|
| 363) |
Soyuz
TM-25 |
224th Russian
(199th
human,
869th
Soviet) |
10 Feb 97 |
|
|
| 364) |
STS-82 |
140th
American
(200th
human,
114th
American) |
11 Feb 97 |
|
|
| 365) |
STS-83
- MSL-1 |
141st
American
(201st
human,
115th
American) |
4 Apr 97 |
|
|
| 366) |
Progress
M-34 |
225th Russian |
6 Apr 97 |
|
|
| 367) |
STS-84 |
142nd
American
(202nd
human,
116th
American) |
15 May 97 |
|
|
| 368) |
STS-94
- MSL-1R |
143rd
American
(203rd
human,
117th
American) |
1st Jul 97 |
|
|
| 369) |
Progress
M-35 |
226th Russian |
5 Jul 97 |
|
|
| 370) |
Soyuz
TM-26 |
227th Russian
(204th
human,
87th
Soviet) |
5 Aug 97 |
|
|
| 371) |
STS-85 |
144th
American
(205th
human,
118th
American) |
7 Aug 97 |
|
|
| 372) |
STS-86 |
145th
American
(206th
human,
119th
American) |
26 Sep 87 |
|
|
| 373) |
Progress
M-36 |
228th Russian |
5 Oct 97 |
|
|
| 374) |
STS-87
- USMP-4 |
146th
American
(207th
human,
120th
American) |
19 Nov 97 |
|
|
| 375) |
Progress
M-37 |
229th Russian |
20 Dec 97 |
|
|
| 1
9 9 8 |
(12 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in 174 missions = 7 %) |
| 376) |
STS-89 |
147th
American
(208th
human,
121st
American) |
23
Jan 98 |
|
|
| 377) |
Soyuz
TM-27 |
230th Russian
(209th
human,
88th
Soviet) |
29 Jan 98 |
|
|
| 378) |
Progress
M-38 |
231st Russian |
14 Mar 98 |
|
|
| 379) |
STS-90 |
148th
American
(210th
human,
122nd
American) |
17 Apr 98 |
|
|
| 380) |
Progress
M-39 |
232nd Russian |
14 May 98 |
|
|
| 381) |
STS-91 |
149th
American
(211st
human,
123rd
American) |
2 Jun 98 |
|
Thiis mission concluded the
seventh NASA astronaut who, collectively spent a total 2½
years aboard Mir |
| 382) |
Soyuz
TM-28 |
233rd Russian
(212nd
human,
89th
Soviet) |
13 Aug 98 |
|
|
| 383) |
Progress
M-40 |
234th Russian |
25 Oct 98 |
|
|
| 384) |
STS-95 |
150th
American
(213rd
human,
124th
American) |
29 Oct 98 |
|
|
| 385) |
Zarya
/ ISS 1A/R |
235th Russian |
20 Nov 98 |
S |
The first International Space
Station (ISS) element: the Russian service module. |
| 386) |
STS-88
/ ISS-2A |
151st
American
(214th
human,
125th
American) |
4 Dec 98 |
S |
Piloted (6 crewmembers): the
first Space Shuttle mission dedicated to the assembly of ISS. Add
to Zarya core module the U.S. Unity/Node-1 module. |
| 387) |
Unity |
152nd
American |
4 Dec 98 |
S |
First U.S. component of the
International Space Station, which served as the junction port between
the Russian and the American sergments of ISS |
| 1
9 9 9 |
(7 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in 133 missions = 5 %) |
| 388) |
Soyuz
TM-29 |
236th Russian
(215th
human,
90th
Soviet) |
20
Feb 99 |
S |
Piloted (3 crewmembers):
the 27th crew of Mir space complex. Upon returning on Earth (on 28 August
1999), this mission ends the 10 consecutive years of human presence in
space. |
| 389) |
Progress
M-41 |
237th Russian |
2 Apr 99 |
S |
59th cargo delivery to Mir. |
| 390) |
STS-96
/ ISS-2A.1 |
153rd
American
(216th
human,
126th
American) |
27 May 99 |
S |
Piloted (7 crewmembers): first
Space Shttle resupply flight to ISS. |
| 391) |
Progress
M-42 |
238th Russian |
16 Jul 99 |
S |
60th cargo delivery to Mir. |
| 392) |
STS-93 |
154th
American
(217th
human,
127th
American) |
23 Jul 99 |
S |
Piloted (5 crewmembers): short
Space Shuttle mission to orbit NASA's
Chandra
Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility. |
| 393) |
Shenzhou
1 |
1st Chinese |
19 Nov 99 |
S |
First automatic flight of China's
first spaceship (a derivative of the Russian's Soyuz); a 21-hr testflight. |
| 394) |
STS-103 |
155th
American
(218th
human,
128th
American) |
20 Dec 99 |
S |
Piloted (7 crewmembers): third
Space Shuttle servicing mission to the
Hubble
Space Telescope. |
| 2
0 0 0 |
(13 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in 131 missions = 10 %) |
| 395) |
Progress
M1-1 |
239th Russian |
1 Feb
00 |
S |
61st cargo delivery
to Mir. |
| 396) |
STS-99
- SLR-3 |
156th
American
(219th
human,
129th
American) |
11 Feb 00 |
S |
Piloted (6 crewmembers): a
dedicated Space Shuttle mission to Earth mapping and topography (for civilian
and military purpose). |
| 397) |
Soyuz
TM-30 |
240th Russian
(220th
human,
91st
Soviet) |
4 Apr 00 |
S |
Piloted (2 crewmembers): 28th
and last Mir occupants. The crew reactivated the space complex in the hope
that it could be reused. But Mir was discarded a year later. |
| 398) |
Progress
M1-2 |
241st Russian |
29 Apr 00 |
S |
62nd cargo delivery to Mir. |
| 399) |
STS-101
/ ISS-2A.2a |
157th
American
(221st
human,
130th
American) |
19 May 00 |
S |
Piloted (7 crewmembers): second
logistic flight of the Space Shuttle toward ISS. Mission objectives: repair,
resupply and construction tasks onboard. |
| 400) |
Zvezda
/ ISS-1R |
242nd Russian |
12 Jul 00 |
S |
Second Russian element of ISS:
the crew-quarter of the station. |
| 401) |
Progress
M1-3 / ISS-1P |
243rd Russian |
6 Aug 00 |
S |
1st cargo delivery to ISS. |
| 402) |
STS-106
/ ISS-2A.2b |
158th
American
(222nd
human,
131st
American) |
8 Sep 00 |
S |
Piloted (7 crewmembers): third
logistic flight of the Space Shuttle to ISS, during which the crew outfitted
the station for the arrival of the first Expedition crew. |
| 403) |
STS-92
/ ISS-3A |
159th
American
(223rd
human,
132nd
American) |
11 Oct 00 |
S |
Piloted (7 crewmembers): second
assembly flight of the Space Shuttle to ISS: installation of the ITS-Z1
truss on top of Unity/Node-1. The hundredth flight of the Space Shuttle. |
| 404) |
Progress
M-43 |
244th Russian |
16 Oct 00 |
S |
63rd cargo delivery to Mir. |
| 405) |
Soyuz
TM-31 / ISS-2R |
245th Russian
(224th
human,
92nd
Soviet
1st ISS
crew) |
31 Oct 00 |
S |
Piloted (3 crewmembers): first
crew to stay onboard ISS (for 4½ months). The International Space
Station began its long-term occupation. |
| 406) |
Progress
M1-4 / ISS-2P |
246th Russian |
16 Nov 00 |
S |
2nd cargo delivery to ISS. |
| 407) |
STS-97
/ ISS-4A |
160th
American
(225th
human,
133rd
American) |
1st Dec 00 |
S |
Piloted (5 crewmembers): third
assembly flight of the Space Shuttle to ISS: installation of the ITS-P6
solar array on top of the ITS-Z1 truss. |
| 2
0 0 1 |
(18 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in 93 missions = 19 %) |
| 408) |
Shenzhou
2 |
2nd Chinese |
9 Jan
01 |
S |
Second automatic
flight of China's new spaceship. It carried a monkey, a dog and a rabbit
in a 7-day tesflight of the life support systems. |
| 409) |
Progress
M1-5 |
247th Russian |
24 Jan 01 |
S |
64th and last cargo delivery
to Mir. It carried 2,677 kg of fuel needed to deorbit the space complex
over the Pacific (on 23 March 2001). |
| 410) |
STS-98
/ ISS-5A |
161st
American
(226th
human,
134th
American) |
7 Feb 01 |
S |
Piloted (5 crewmembers): fourth
assembly flight of the Space Shuttle to ISS: installation of the U.S. Destiny
laboratory and PMA-2 on Unity/Node-1. |
| 411) |
Destiny
/ US Lab |
162nd
American |
7 Feb 01 |
S |
The American 15-tonne science
laboratory of the Internationl Space Station. |
| 412) |
Progress
M-44 / ISS-3P |
248th Russian |
26 Feb 01 |
S |
3rd cargo delivery to ISS. |
| 413) |
STS-102
/ ISS-5A.1 |
163rd
American
(227th
human,
135th
American
+ 228th
human,
+ 2nd
ISS crew) |
8 Mar 01 |
S |
Piloted (4 crewmembers + 3-member
Expedition 2): fourth logistics flight of the Space Shuttle to ISS: delivered
the second Expedition crew and proceed to the first changeout of ISS residents.
Also carries supplies and scientific racks. |
| 414) |
STS-100
/ ISS-6A |
164th
American
(229th
human,
136th
American) |
19 Apr 01 |
S |
Piloted (7 crewmembers): fifth
assembly flight of the Space Shuttle at ISS: installation of the Canadarm2.
Also carries logistics and supplies. |
| 415) |
Soyuz
TM-32 / ISS-2S |
249th Russian
(230th
human,
93rd
Soviet) |
28 Apr 01 |
S |
Piloted (3 crewmembers): first
“taxi flight” to ISS to change its Soyuz rescue vehicle. Also carried
the first tourist (paying passenger) at ISS (Dennis Tito). |
| 416) |
Progress
M1-6 / ISS-4P |
250th Russian |
20 May 01 |
S |
4th cargo delivery to ISS. |
| 417) |
STS-104
/ ISS-7A |
165th
American
(231st
human,
137th
American) |
12 Jul 01 |
S |
Piloted (5 crewmembers): sixth
assembly flight of the Space Shuttle at ISS: added the Quest Airlock on
the side of Unity/Node-1. |
| 418) |
Quest
Joint Airlock |
166th
American |
12 Jul 01 |
S |
The U.S. 6-tonne Quest Airlock
fitted to facilitated extravehicular activities (EVA) outside ISS. |
| 419) |
STS-105
/ ISS-7A.1 |
167th
American
(232nd
human,
138th
American
+ 233rd
human,
+ 3rd
ISS crew) |
10 Aug 01 |
S |
Piloted (4 crewmembers + 3-member
Expedition 3): fifth logistics flight of the Space Shuttle to ISS and second
changeout of ISS residents, Expedition 3 replacing Expedition 2. Also carried
supplies and equipements. |
| 420) |
Progress
M-45 / ISS-5P |
251st Russian |
21 Aug 01 |
S |
5th cargo delivery to ISS |
| 421) |
Progress
M-SO1 / ISS |
252nd Russian |
14 Sep 01 |
S |
Delivered the Pirs module to
ISS. |
| 422) |
Pirs
/ SO-1 / ISS-4R |
253rd Russian |
14 Sep 01 |
S |
The Russian Docking Module-1
(Pirs) is installed under the Zvezda module to facilitate docking of Soyuz
and Progress and Russian-based EVA. |
| 423) |
Soyuz
TM-33 / ISS-3S |
254th Russian
(234ht
human,
94th
Soviet) |
21 Oct 01 |
S |
Piloted (3 crewmembers): second
“taxi flight” to ISS to change its Soyuz rescue vehicle. |
| 424) |
Progress
M1-7 / ISS-6P |
255th Russian |
26 Nov 01 |
S |
6th cargo delivery to ISS. |
| 425) |
STS-108
/ ISS UF-1 |
168th
American
(235th
human,
139th
American
+ 236th
human,
+ 4th
ISS crew) |
5 Dec 01 |
S |
Piloted (4 crewmembers + 3-member
Expedition 4): sixth logistics flight of the Space Shuttle to ISS and third
changeout of ISS residents, Expedition 4 replacing Expedition 3. Also carried
supplies and equipements. |
| 2
0 0 2 |
(12 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in 101 missions = 12 %) |
| 426) |
STS-109 |
169th
American
(237th
human,
140th
American) |
1st
Mar 02 |
S |
Piloted (7 crewmembers):
fourth Space Shuttle servicing mission to the Hubble
Space Telescope. |
| 427) |
Progress
M1-8 / ISS-7P |
256th Russian |
21 Mar 02 |
S |
7th cargo delivery to ISS. |
| 428) |
Shenzhou
3 |
3rd Chinese |
28 Mar 02 |
S |
Third automatic flight of China's
new spaceship, a week-long tesflight with a dummy astronaut instrumented
to monitor life support systems. |
| 429) |
STS-110
/ ISS-8A |
170th
American
(238th
human,
141st
American) |
8 Apr 02 |
S |
Piloted (7 crewmembers): seventh
assembly flight of the Space Shuttle at ISS: installed the ITS-S0, the
first segment of the station main truss carrying the large solar panels. |
| 430) |
Soyuz
TM-34 / ISS-4S |
257th Russian
(239th
human,
95th
Soviet) |
25 Apr 02 |
S |
Piloted (3 crewmembers): third
“taxi flight” to ISS to change its Soyuz rescue vehicle. It carried an
European astronaut and a second paying tourist. |
| 431) |
STS-111
/ ISS UF-2 |
171st
American
(240th
human,
142nd
American
+ 241st
human,
+ 5th
ISS crew) |
5 Jun 02 |
S |
Piloted (4 crewmembers + 3-member
Expedition 5): seventth logistics flight of the Space Shuttle to ISS and
fourth changeout of ISS residents, Expedition 5 replacing Expedition 4.
Also delivered the MSS Mobile Base System and some experiment racks. |
| 432) |
Progress
M-46 / ISS-8P |
258th Russian |
26 Jun 02 |
S |
8th cargo delivery to ISS. |
| 433) |
Progress
M1-9 / ISS-9P |
259th Russian |
25 Sep 02 |
S |
9th cargo delivery to ISS. |
| 434) |
STS-112
/ ISS-9A |
172nd
American
(242nd
human,
143rd
American) |
7 Oct 02 |
S |
Piloted (6 crewmembers): eight
assembly flight of the Space Shuttle at ISS: installed the ITS-S1 on the
starboard side of the station main truss Also installed CETA carts. |
| 435) |
Soyuz
TMA-1 / ISS-5S |
260th Russian
(243rd
human,
96th
Soviet) |
30 Oct 02 |
S |
Piloted (3 crewmembers): fourth
“taxi flight” to ISS to change its Soyuz rescue vehicle. It carried an
European astronaut (for the Odissea program). |
| 436) |
STS-113
/ ISS-11A |
173nd
American
(244th
human,
144th
American
+ 245th
human,
+ 6th
ISS crew) |
24 Nov 02 |
S |
Piloted (4 crewmembers + 3-member
Expedition 5): ninth assembly flight of the Space Shuttle to ISS, with
the installation of the ITS-P1 onto the main truss, and the fifth changeout
of ISS residents, Expedition 6 replacing Expedition 4. |
| 437) |
Shenzhou
4 |
4th Chinese |
29 Dec 02 |
S |
Fourth and final unmanned test
of the Shenzhou spacecraft. It carried 52 science payloads for a week-long
mission. |
| 2
0 0 3 |
(7 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in 97 missions = 7 %) |
| 438) |
STS-107 |
174th
American
(246th
human,
145th
American) |
16
Jan 03 |
.F |
Piloted (7 crewmembers):
long-duration (16-day) Space Shuttle mission dedicated to science experiments.
Crew perished on Columbia's reentry over the United StatEs. |
| 439) |
Progress
M-47 / ISS 10P |
261st Russian |
2 Feb 03 |
S |
10th cargo delivery to ISS. |
| 440) |
Soyuz
TMA-2 / ISS 6S |
262nd Soviet
(247th
human,
97th
Soviet) |
26 Apr 03 |
S |
Piloted (2 crewmembers): first
Soyuz ISS crew changeout mission (as well as replacement of the rescue
vehicle). Two-man Expedition 7 replaced the 3-man Expedition 6. |
| 441) |
Progress
M1-10 / ISS-11P |
263rd Russian |
8 Jun 03 |
S |
11th cargo delivery to ISS. |
| 442) |
Progress
M-48 / ISS-12P |
264th Russian |
29 Aug 03 |
S |
12th cargo delivery to ISS. |
| 443) |
Shenzhou
5 |
5th Chinese
(248th
human,
1st Chinese) |
15 Oct 03 |
S |
Piloted (1 crewmember): first
Chinese piloted spaceflight (a 21-hr-long mission). First piloted
flight launch by a nation other than Russia or United States. |
| 444) |
Soyuz
TMA-3 / ISS-7S |
265th Russian
(249th
human,
98th
Soviet) |
18 Oct 03 |
S |
Piloted (3 crewmembers): second
Soyuz ISS crew changeout mission (as well as replacement of the rescue
vehicle). Expedition 8 replaced Expedition 7 (+ an accompaying European
astronaut). |
| 2
0 0 4 |
(6 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in 77 missions = 8 %) |
| 445) |
Progress
M1-11 / ISS 13P |
266th Russian |
29
Jan 04 |
S |
13th cargo delivery
to ISS. |
| 446) |
Soyuz
TMA-4 / ISS 8S |
267th Russian
(250th
human,
99th
Soviet) |
19 Apr 04 |
S |
Piloted (3 crewmembers): third
Soyuz ISS crew changeout mission (as well as replacement of the rescue
vehicle). Expedition 9 replaced Expedition 8 (+ an accompaying European
astronaut). |
| 447) |
Progress
M-49 / ISS 14P |
268th Russian |
25 May 04 |
S |
14th cargo delivery to ISS. |
| 448) |
Progress
M-50 / ISS 15P |
269th Russian |
11 Aug 04 |
S |
15th cargo delivery to ISS. |
| 449) |
Soyuz
TMA-5 / ISS 9S |
270th Russian
(251st
human,
100th
Soviet) |
14 Oct 04 |
S |
Piloted (3 crewmembers): fourth
Soyuz ISS crew changeout mission (as well as replacement of the rescue
vehicle). Expedition 10 replaced Expedition 9. |
| 450) |
Progress
M-51 / ISS 16P |
271st Russian |
23 Dec 04 |
S |
16th cargo delivery to ISS. |
| 2
0 0 5 |
(8 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in 78 missions = 10 %) |
| 451) |
Progress
M-52 / ISS 17P |
272nd Russian |
28
Feb 05 |
S |
17th cargo delivery
to ISS. |
| 452) |
Soyuz
TMA-6 / ISS 10S |
273rd Russian
(252nd
human,
101st
Soviet) |
15 Apr 05 |
S |
Piloted (3 crewmembers): fifth
Soyuz ISS crew changeout mission (as well as replacement of the rescue
vehicle). Expedition 11 replaced Expedition 10 (+ an accompaying
European astronaut). |
| 453) |
Progress
M-53 / ISS 18P |
274th Russian |
16 Jun 05 |
S |
18th cargo delivery to ISS. |
| 454) |
STS-114
/ RTF |
175th
American
(253rd
human,
146th
American) |
26 Jul 05 |
F |
Piloted (7 crewmembers): “Return-to-Flight”
Space Shuttle testflight (folloiwing Columbia
accident) and eight ISS logistics mission. |
| 455) |
Progress
M-54 / ISS 19P |
275th Russian |
8 Sep 05 |
S |
19th cargo delivery to ISS. |
| 456) |
Soyuz
TMA-7 / ISS 11A |
276th Russian
(254th
human,
102nd
Soviet) |
1st Oct 05 |
S |
Piloted (3 crewmembers): sixth
Soyuz ISS crew changeout mission (as well as replacement of the rescue
vehicle). Expedition 12 replaced Expedition 11 (+ a third paying
tourist). |
| 457) |
Shenzhou
6 |
(6 Chinese)
(255th
human,
2nd Chinese |
12 Oct 05 |
S |
Piloted (2 crewmembers): second
Chinese spaceflight, with two crewmembers spending five days in space. |
| 458) |
Progress
M-55 / ISS 20P |
277th Russian |
21 Dec 05 |
S |
20th cargo delivery to ISS. |
| 2
0 0 6 |
(8 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in 116 missions = 7 %) |
| 459) |
Soyuz
TMA-8 / ISS 12S |
278th Russian
(256th
human,
103rd
Soviet) |
30
Mar 06 |
S |
Piloted (3 crewmembers):
seventh Soyuz ISS crew changeout mission (as well as replacement of the
rescue vehicle). Expedition 13 replaced Expedition 12 (+ an accompaying
European astronaut). |
| 460) |
Progress
M-56 / ISS 21P |
279th Russian |
24 Apr 06 |
S |
21th cargo delivery to ISS |
| 461) |
Progress
M-57 / ISS 22P |
280th Russian |
24 Jun 06 |
S |
22nd cargo delivery to ISS. |
| 462) |
STS-121
/ ULF-1.1 |
176th
American
(257th
human,
147th
American) |
4 Jul 06 |
S |
Piloted (7 crewmembers): second
Space Shuttle testflight following
Columbia
accident. Also, the ninth ISS logistics mission. |
| 463) |
STS-115
/ ISS 12A |
177th
American
(258th
human,
148th
American) |
9 Sep 06 |
S |
Piloted (6 crewmembers): tenth
assembly flight of the Space Shuttle to ISS, with the addition of the ITS-P3/P4
to the station main truss. |
| 464) |
Soyuz
TMA-9 / ISS 13S |
281st Russian
(259th
human,
104th
Soviet) |
18 Sep 06 |
S |
Piloted (3 crewmembers): eighth
Soyuz ISS crew changeout mission (as well as replacement of the rescue
vehicle). Expedition 14 replaced Expedition 13 (+ a fourth paying
tourist). |
| 465) |
Progress
M-58 / ISS 23P |
282nd Russian |
23 Oct 06 |
S |
23rd cargo delivery to ISS. |
| 466) |
STS-116
/ ISS 12A.1 |
178th
American
(260th
human,
149th
American) |
10 Dec 06 |
S |
Piloted (7 crewmembers): eleventh
assembly flight of the Space Shuttle to ISS, with the addition of the ITS-P4
to the station main truss. Also logistics and addition of a third crewmember
to ISS resident. |
| 2
0 0 7 |
(9 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in 123 missions = 7 %) |
| 467) |
Progress
M-59 / ISS 24P |
283rd Russian |
18
Jan 07 |
S |
24th cargo delivery
to ISS. |
| 468) |
Soyuz
TMA-10 / ISS 14S |
284th Russian
(261st
human,
105th
Soviet) |
7 Apr 07 |
S |
Piloted (3 crewmembers): ninth
Soyuz ISS crew changeout mission (as well as replacement of the rescue
vehicle). Expedition 15 replaced Expedition 14 (+ a fifth paying
tourist). |
| 469) |
Progress
M-60 / ISS 25P |
285th Russian |
12 May 07 |
S |
25th cargo delivery to ISS. |
| 470) |
STS-117
/ ISS-13A |
179th
American
(262nd
human,
150th
American) |
8 Jun 07 |
S |
Piloted (7 crewmembers): eleventh
assembly flight of the Space Shuttle to ISS, with the addition of the ITS-S3/S4
to the station main truss and replacement of the third ISS crewmember. |
| 471) |
Progress
M-61 / ISS 26P |
286th Russian |
2 Aug 07 |
S |
26th cargo delivery to ISS. |
| 472) |
STS-118
/ ISS 13A.1 |
180th
American
(263rd
human,
151st
American) |
8 Aug 07 |
S |
Piloted (7 crewmembers): twelvth
assembly flight of the Space Shuttle to ISS, with the addition of the ITS-S5
to the station main truss and logistics.. |
| 473) |
Soyuz
TMA-11 / ISS 15S |
287th Russian
(264th
human,
106th
Soviet) |
10 Oct 07 |
S |
Piloted (3 crewmembers): tenth
Soyuz ISS crew changeout mission (as well as replacement of the rescue
vehicle). Expedition 16 replaced Expedition 15 (+ an Indonesian astronaut). |
| 474) |
STS
120 / ISS 10A |
181th
American
(265th
human,
152nd
American) |
23 Oct 07 |
S |
Piloted (7 crewmembers): thirteenth
assembly flight of the Space Shuttle to ISS, with the addition of the Harmony/Node-2
in front of Destiny Lab. Also replacement of the third ISS crewmember. |
| 475) |
Progress
M-62 / ISS 27P |
288th Russian |
24 Dec 07 |
S |
27th cargo delivery to ISS. |
| 2
0 0 8 |
(14 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in 111 missions = 13 %) |
| 476) |
| Mission: |
Progress
M-63 / ISS 28P Cargoship |
| Launched: |
5 February 2008 at 13h03 UT |
| Destroyed: |
7 April 2008 at 12h50 UT |
| Duration: |
61 d. 23 hr. 47 min. |
| Ranks: |
289th Russian Piloted Spaceship |
| Result: |
Success |
|
28th cargo delivery
to ISS that carried more than 2.5 tons of various cargoes, including oxygen,
water and food, propellants, consumables, scientific instrumentation and
equipment. Docking on the Pirs module occured on 7 February at 14h38 UT
and undocking on 7 April at 4h49 EDT, after 60 days. Deorbit burn followed
at 7h50 EDT for destructive reentry over the Pacific Ocean. |
| 477) |
| Mission: |
STS-122
/ ISS 1E Humanship |
| Crew: |
CDR: Frick,
PI:
Poindexter, MS1: Melvin,
MS2: Walheim, MS3: Schlegel,
MS4: Love, MS5: Eyharts |
| Launched: |
7 February 2008 at 19h45 UT |
| Recovered: |
20 February 2008 at 14h07 UT |
| Duration: |
12 d. 18 hr. 22 min. |
| Ranks: |
182nd
American Piloted Spaceshi
(266th
human, 153rd American) |
| Result: |
Siuccess |
|
Piloted (7 crewmembers): fourteenth
assembly flight of the Space Shuttle to ISS, with the addition of the Columbus
science laboratory on the side of Harmony/Node-2. Also replacement of the
third ISS crewmember, Eyharts becoming a member of Expedition 16 crew (replacing
Tani). Atlantis docked onto PMA-2 on 9 February at 17h15 UT. NASA
then announced that it will delayed the first spacewalk and installation
of Columbus on ISS by one day, because of a ˜crew medical issue˜ affecting
Schlegel. Scheduled to make the first EVA with Walheim, Schlegel was replaced
Love. Three EVA were performed to install Columbus, to exchange a
nitrogen tank, to install some exterior experiments on the Columbus External
Payload Facility and to retrieve the failed Control Moment Gyro as well
as doing some inspections of the exterior of ISS. Atlantis undocked from
ISS on 12 February at 9h27 UT and landed as schedule at the Kennedy Space
Cencer. |
| 478) |
| Mission: |
Columbus
Science Module |
| Launched: |
7 February 2008 at 19h45 UT |
| Mated ISS: |
11 February 2008 at 21h44 UT |
| Duration: |
n/a |
| Ranks: |
1st European Piloted Spaceship |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Europe's main contribution
to ISS: a large science laboratory. Not counting Spacelab and MPLMs, it
represents Europe's first truly spaceship. Columbus is a 12,775-kg research
laboratory which is permanantly attached to the International Space Station
to provides internal payload accommodation for experiments in the field
of multidisciplinary research into material science, fluid physics and
life science. In addition, an external payload facility hosts experiments
and applications in the field of space science, Earth observation and technology.
During its 10-year projected lifespan, the 4.5-metre diameter, with 75
cubic metres of space inside, cylindrical laboratory will be able to conduct
thousands of experiments all in the weightlessness of orbit. Columbus was
installed on ISS on 11 February at about 21h44 UT. |
| 479) |
| Mission: |
ATV-1
Jules Verne Cargoship |
| Launched: |
9 March 2008 at 4h03 UT |
| Destroyed: |
September 2008 |
| Duration: |
6 momths |
| Ranks |
2nd European) Piloted Spacesip |
| Result: |
Success |
|
28th cargo delivery to ISS
by Europe's 1st cargoship. Nicknamed Jules Verne, ATV-1 delivers 8 tons
of supplies to the Internation Space Station, including 6,5 toms of maneuver
propellant and 1,2 ton of varied dry cargo ((including food, clothes and
equipment as well as two original manuscripts handwritten by Jules Verne).
After a four-week orbital test flight, the craft docked successfully at
the Service Module aft port on 3 April at 10h45 EDT. |
| 480) |
| Mission: |
STS-123
/ ISS J/A Humanship |
| Crew: |
CDR: Gorie,
PI:
Johnson, MS1: Behnken,
MS2: Foreman, MS3: Doi,
MS4: Linnehan, MS5: Reisman. |
| Launched: |
11 March 2008 at 6h28 UT |
| Recovered: |
27 March 2008 at 0h39 UT |
| Duration: |
15 d.18 hr.11 min. |
| Ranks: |
183rd
American Spaceship
(267th
human, 154th American) |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Piloted (7 crewmembers): fifteenth
assembly flight of the Space Shuttle to ISS: addition of the Japanese logistics
module (ELM-PS) and of the Canadian SPDM Dextre agile robot. Also replacement
of the third ISS crewmember. |
| 481) |
| Mission: |
Kibo
ELM-PS Logistic Module |
| Launched: |
11 March 2008 at 6h28 UT |
| Mated ISS |
14 March 2008 at ~7h00 UT |
| Duration: |
n/a |
| Ranks: |
1st Japanese Piloted Spaceship |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Japanese stowage module to
be placed on top of the JEM Kibo science laboratory. |
| 482) |
| Mission: |
Soyuz
TMA-12 / ISS 16S Humanship |
| Crew: |
CDR: Volkov,
FE:
Kononenko,
SFP:
Yi
. |
| Launched: |
8 April 2008 at 11h16 UT |
| Recovered: |
October 2008 |
| Duration: |
Six months |
| Ranks: |
290th Russian Piloted Spaceship
(268th
human, 107th Soviet) |
| Result: |
Success |
|
Piloted (3 crewmembers): eleventh
Soyuz ISS crew changeout mission (as well as replacement of the rescue
vehicle). Expedition 17 replaced Expedition 16 (+ a South Korean
astronaut). |
| 483) |
| Mission: |
Progress
M-64 / ISS 29P Cargoship |
| Launched: |
14 May 2008 at 20h23 UT |
| Destroyed: |
9 September 2008 |
| Duration: |
4 months |
| Ranks: |
291st Russian Piloted Spaceship |
| Result: |
Success |
|
29th cargo deliery to ISS |
| 484) |
|
|
| 485) |
| Mission: |
Progress
M-65 / ISS 30P |
| Launched: |
10 September 2008 |
| : |
11 November2008 |
| Duration: |
60 days |
| Ranks: |
292nd Russian Piloted Spaceship |
| Result: |
|
|
|
| 486) |
| Mission: |
Shenzhou
VII |
| Launched: |
25 September 2008 |
| : |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
7th Chinese Piloted Spaceship
(270th
human, 3rd Chinese) |
| Result: |
|
|
|
| 487) |
| Mission: |
Soyuz
TMA-13 / ISS 17S |
| Launched: |
12 October 2008 |
| : |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
293rdh Russian Piloted Spaceship
(271st
human, 108th Soviet) |
| Result: |
|
|
|
| 488) |
| Mission: |
STS-126
/ ULF-2 |
| Launched: |
15 November 08 |
| : |
|
| Duration: |
|
| Ranks: |
185th
American Spaceship
(272th
human, 156th American) |
| Result: |
|
|
|
| 489) |
|
|
|
|
|
| 2
0 0 9 |
(15 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in 129 missions =12 %) |
| 2
0 1 0 |
(12 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in 129 missions = 9%) |
| 2
0 1 1 |
(16 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in missions = %) |
| 2
0 1 2 |
(13 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in missions = %) |
| 2
0 1 3 |
(13 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in missions = %) |
| 2
0 1 4 |
( Civilian Piloted
Spaceships in missions = %) |
| 2
0 1 5 |
(14 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in missions = %) |
| 2
0 1 6 |
(14 Civilian
Piloted Spaceships in missions = %) |
| 2
0 1 7 |
( Civilian Piloted
Spaceships in missions = %) |
| 2
0 1 8 |
( Civilian Piloted
Spaceships in missions = %) |
Souces::
| • |
David A. Barker, The History
of Manned Spaceflight, Crown Publishers, New York, 1979. |
| • |
Leland F. Belew, Skylab,
Our First Space Station, NASA SP-400, Washington, D.C. 1977 |
| • |
Courtney G. Brooks. James M.
Grimwood and Loyd S. Swenson, Jr., Chariots
for Apollo: A History of Manned Lunar Spacecraft, NASA SP-4205Washington,
DC, 1979 |
| • |
Ivan D. Ertel and Mary Louise
Morse, The
Apollo Spacecraft: A Chronology, NASA SP-4009 |
| • |
Edward Clinton Ezell and Linda
Neuman Ezell,
The
Partnership: A History of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, NASA SP-4209,
Washington, DC, 1978, |
| • |
Sven Grahn's Space
History Notes, |
| • |
James M. Grimwood, Project
Mercury: A Chronology, NASA SP-4001, NASA History Division, Washington
D.C. |
| • |
James M. Grimwood and Barton
C. Hacker, Project
Gemini: A Chronology, NASA SP-4002 Washington, D.C. |
| • |
Barton C. Hacker and James
M. Grimwood, On
The Shoulders of Titans: A History of Project Gemini, NASA SP-4203,
Washington, DC, 1977 |
| • |
Nicholas L. Johnson, Handbook
Of Soviet Manned Space Flight, American Astronautical Society's Science
and Technlogy Series, Volume 48, Univelt |
| • |
NASA Web Site: Space
Shuttle Missions, |
| • |
Roland W. Newkirk and Ivan
D. Ertel, with Courtney G. Brooks, Skylab:
A Chronology, NASA SP-4011 |
| • |
Richard W. Orloff, Apollo
by the Numbers: A Statistical Reference, NASA SP-2000-4029, 2000
(Revised, September 2004) |
| • |
Judith A. Rumerman, Chris Gamble
and Gabriel Okolski, U.S.
Human Spaceflight: A Record of Achievement, 1961-2006, NASA Monograph
in Aerospace History No. 41, NASA History Division, Washington D.C.,
2008. |
| • |
Asif A.Siddiqi, Challenge
to Apollo: The Soviet Union and the Space Race, 1945–1974, NASA SP-2000-4408,
NASA History Division, Washington D.C., 2000. |
| • |
Loyd S. Swenson Jr., James
M. Grimwood and Charles C. Alexander, This
New Ocean: A History of Project Mercury, NASA SP-4201, NASA History
Division, Washington D.C., 1989. |
|
|
