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		 United StatesTitan IIIE/Star-37 United StatesCape Canaveral SLC-41 United StatesNASA
United StatesGermanyHelios-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]		 United States Titan III(23)C United States Cape Canaveral SLC-40 United States NASA
United States LES-8 MIT Lincoln Laboratory Geosynchronous Technology demonstrationIn orbitSuccessful
United States LES-9 MIT Lincoln Laboratory Geosynchronous Technology demonstrationIn orbitSuccessful
United States SOLRAD 11A NRL Geosynchronous HeliophysicsIn orbitSuccessful
United States 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		 Soviet UnionProton-K Soviet UnionBaikonur Site 81/23 Soviet Union
Soviet UnionSalyut 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		 Soviet UnionSoyuz Soviet UnionBaikonur Site 1/5 Soviet Union
Soviet UnionSoyuz 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		 Soviet Union Proton-K/D Soviet Union Baikonur 81/23 Soviet Union
Luna 24 Selenocentric Lunar lander22 AugustSuccessful
Third uncrewed lunar sample return, Third Soviet lunar sample return
15 September
09:48:30		 Soviet UnionSoyuz-U Soviet UnionBaikonur Site 1/5 Soviet Union
Soviet UnionSoyuz 22 Low Earth Salyut expedition23 September
07:40:47		Successful
Crewed flight with two cosmonauts
14 October
17:39:18		 Soviet UnionSoyuz-U Soviet UnionBaikonur Site 1/5 Soviet Union
Soviet UnionSoyuz 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		 Soviet Union Luna 24 Ascent stage Mare Crisium (Luna)
Soviet Union Luna 24 Return capsule Soviet Union 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
  • 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". Archived from the original on 5 October 2009. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  • 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).
Generic references:
 Spaceflight portal

Footnotes
  1. McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Report. Archived from the original on 16 November 2021. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
  2. Ryan, Dorothy (27 May 2020). "Lincoln Laboratory decommissions Lincoln Experimental Satellite–9". MIT. Archived from the original on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
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