1970 in spaceflight

1970 in spaceflight
Orbital launches
First 11 February
Last 12 December
National firsts
Satellite  Japan
 China
Orbital launch  Japan
 China

Japan and China each launched their first satellites in 1970, bringing the total number of nations with independent launch capability to five. Apollo 13 was launched; after suffering an explosion in deep space it had to circumnavigate the moon and use the LM as a life boat. Apollo 13 was a successful disaster in which the crew survived. The Soviet space program continued its Luna program with Luna 17, which delivered the robotic Lunokhod 1 rover to the lunar surface, and Luna 16, which achieved the first unmanned lunar sample return. The Soviets also continued the success of the Venera Venus probes with Venera 7, the first man-made spacecraft to successfully land on another planet and to transmit data back to Earth, though it only survived 23 minutes on the surface.

Launches

This is a list of spaceflights launched in 1970.

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
Date and time (UTC) Rocket Launch site LSP
Payload Operator Orbit Function Decay (UTC) Outcome
Remarks
11 February Japan Lambda-4S Japan Kagoshima Japan Japan
Japan Ōsumi Tokyo University Low Earth Technology 02 August 2003 Successful
First satellite launched by Japan
03 March
21:15
United Kingdom Black Arrow United Kingdom Woomera United Kingdom RAE
RAE Low Earth Test LV In orbit Successful
11 April
19:13
United States Saturn V (C-5) United States Kennedy LC-39A United States NASA
United States Apollo 13 CSM Odyssey NASA Intended: Lunar orbit
Actual: Lunar free return
Manned Lunar orbit. 15 April 1970 Failure
United States Apollo 13 LM Aquarius NASA Intended: Lunar landing
Actual: Lunar free return
Manned lunar landing 15 April 1970 Failure
Explosion in Service Module crippled spacecraft, resulting in mission abort. Mission aborted due to CSM malfunction. LM used to help bring crew back to Earth.
24 April China Long March 1 Rocket China Jiuquan China PRC
China Dong Fang Hong I PRC Low Earth Test satellite In orbit Successful
First satellite launched by China
01 June
19:00
Soviet Union Soyuz (R-7/A-2) Soviet Union Baikonur Site 1 Soviet Union RVSN
Soviet Union Soyuz 9 RVSN Low Earth Manned Orbital Spaceflight 19 June 1970
11:58
Successful
Longest Manned flight involving only one spacecraft. (As of 09/06/06)
01 June
19:00
United Kingdom Black Arrow United Kingdom Woomera United Kingdom RAE
United Kingdom Orba RAE Low Earth Micrometeoroid detection satellite In orbit Failure
First British attempt to launch a satellite. Failed to reach orbit after premature 2nd stage cutout.
12 September
13:25
Soviet Union Proton-K/D Soviet Union Baikonur 81/23 Soviet Union
Luna 16 Selenocentric Lunar lander In orbit Successful
First unmanned lunar sample return, first Soviet lunar sample return
20 October
19:55
Soviet Union Proton-K/D Soviet Union Baikonur 81/23 Soviet Union
Zond 8 Highly elliptical Spacecraft test In orbit Successful
Final circumlunar flight of the Zond program.
12 December
10:54
United States Scout B Kenya San Marco mobile range, Kenya Kenya CRA
Kenya Uhuru NASA Low Earth X-ray astronomy In orbit Successful
First satellite dedicated to X-ray astronomy.

Off-world launches

Date and time (UTC) Rocket Launch site LSP
Payload Operator Orbit Function Decay (UTC) Outcome
Remarks
21 September
7:43
Soviet Union Luna 16 Ascent stage Mare Fecunditatis (Moon)
Soviet Union Luna 16 Return capsule Soviet Union Highly elliptical Sample return 17 September 1970 Successful
First unmanned lunar sample return mission

Deep Space Rendezvous

Date (GMT) Spacecraft Event Remarks
11 April 1970 Apollo 13 S-IVB stage Impacted the Moon
15 April Apollo 13 Lunar flyby at 254 kilometres (158 mi) Intended lunar landing, forced to abort and return to Earth using lunar free return trajectory
20 September Luna 16 100gm from Mare Fecunditatis First sample return mission
24 October Zond 8 Circumlunar flight of the Moon 1,110 kilometres (690 mi)
17 November Luna 17 Delivered Lunokhod 1 at Mare Imbrium First robotic Lunar rover
15 December Venera 7 Atmospheric probe worked for 23 min on the Venerian surface First soft landing on another planet

References

Generic references:

Footnotes


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