1976 in spaceflight

The following is an outline of 1976 in spaceflight.

1976 in spaceflight
Viking 2 on the surface of Mars
Orbital launches
First6 January
Last28 December
Total131
Catalogued128
National firsts
Satellite Indonesia
Rockets
Maiden flightsThor DSV-2U
RetirementsVoskhod
Scout B-1
Soyuz
Soyuz-M
Thor-Burner
Crewed flights
Orbital3
Total travellers6

Launches
Date and time (UTC) Rocket Flight number Launch site LSP
Payload
(⚀ = CubeSat)		 Operator Orbit Function Decay (UTC) Outcome
Remarks
15 January
05:34:00		 Titan IIIE/Star-37 Cape Canaveral SLC-41 NASA
Helios-B NASA / DFVLR Heliocentric Solar probeIn orbitSuccessful
Achieved a closest approach to the Sun of 43.432 million km (0.29 AU) on 17 April 1976, the closest approach achieved by an artificial satellite; it was succeeded by the Parker Solar Probe in 2018.
15 March
01:25:40[1]		 Titan III(23)C Cape Canaveral SLC-40 NASA
LES-8 MIT Lincoln Laboratory Geosynchronous Technology demonstrationIn orbitSuccessful
LES-9 MIT Lincoln Laboratory Geosynchronous Technology demonstrationIn orbitSuccessful
SOLRAD 11A NRL Geosynchronous HeliophysicsIn orbitSuccessful
SOLRAD 11B NRL Geosynchronous HeliophysicsIn orbitSuccessful
LES-8 was decommissioned in 2004; LES-9, the last Lincoln Experimental Satellite, continued functioning for 44 years and was finally decommissioned in 2020.[2]
22 June
18:04:00		 Proton-K Baikonur Site 81/23
Salyut 5 (Almaz OPS-3) Low Earth Space station8 August 1977Successful
Visited by three crews, one of which failed to dock
6 July
12:08:45		 Soyuz Baikonur Site 1/5
Soyuz 21 Low Earth (Salyut 5) Salyut expedition24 August
18:32:17		Partial mission failure
Crewed flight with two cosmonauts, final flight of Soyuz 11A511, returned early due to crew illness
9 August
12:08:45		 Proton-K/D Baikonur 81/23
Luna 24 Selenocentric Lunar lander22 AugustSuccessful
Third uncrewed lunar sample return, Third Soviet lunar sample return
15 September
09:48:30		 Soyuz-U Baikonur Site 1/5
Soyuz 22 Low Earth Salyut expedition23 September
07:40:47		Successful
Crewed flight with two cosmonauts
14 October
17:39:18		 Soyuz-U Baikonur Site 1/5
Soyuz 23 Low Earth (Intended: Salyut 5) Salyut expedition16 October
17:45:53		Spacecraft failure
Crewed flight with two cosmonauts, failed to dock with Salyut 5

Launches from the Moon
Date and time (UTC) Rocket Flight number Launch site LSP
Payload
(⚀ = CubeSat)		 Operator Orbit Function Decay (UTC) Outcome
Remarks
19 August
5:25		 Luna 24 Ascent stage Mare Crisium (Luna)
Luna 24 Return capsule Highly elliptical Sample return22 August 1976Successful
Third uncrewed lunar sample return mission

Deep space rendezvous
Date Spacecraft Event Remarks
19 JuneViking 1Areocentric orbit insertion
20 JulyViking 1 Landerlanded in Chryse Planitia
7 AugustViking 2Areocentric orbit insertion
18 AugustLuna 24landed in Mare Crisiumsample return mission
19 AugustLuna 24lift-off from Mare Crisium170 grams (6.0 oz)
3 SeptemberViking 2 Landerlanded in Utopia Planitia

References
Generic references:
 Spaceflight portal
  • Bergin, Chris. "NASASpaceFlight.com".
  • Clark, Stephen. "Spaceflight Now".
  • Kelso, T.S. "Satellite Catalog (SATCAT)". CelesTrak.
  • Krebs, Gunter. "Chronology of Space Launches".
  • Kyle, Ed. "Space Launch Report".
  • McDowell, Jonathan. "Jonathan's Space Report".
  • Pietrobon, Steven. "Steven Pietrobon's Space Archive".
  • Wade, Mark. "Encyclopedia Astronautica".
  • Webb, Brian. "Southwest Space Archive".
  • Zak, Anatoly. "Russian Space Web".
  • "ISS Calendar". Spaceflight 101.
  • "NSSDCA Master Catalog". NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
  • "Space Calendar". NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
  • "Space Information Center". JAXA.
  • "Хроника освоения космоса" [Chronicle of space exploration]. CosmoWorld (in Russian).

Footnotes
  1. McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Report. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
  2. Ryan, Dorothy (27 May 2020). "Lincoln Laboratory decommissions Lincoln Experimental Satellite–9". MIT. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
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