1971 in spaceflight

Wikipedia:WikiProject Timeline of spaceflight/Converting Wikipedia:WikiProject Timeline of spaceflight/Cleanup 1971 saw the last three known deaths of cosmonauts of the Soviet space program and the only deaths in space. Their mission was to man humanity's first space station. The experimental bay door failed to separate so the first crew failed to dock and second crew were killed on re-entry. 1971 also saw the launch of the first and only British satellite on top of a British rocket after that success the program was cancelled.

Contents

Launches

[edit]

This is a list of spaceflights launched in 1971.

Date and time
(UTC)		 Rocket Site LSP Payload Operator Orbit Function Decay
(UTC)		 Outcome Remarks
13 January
20:10 GMT		 Black Brant II Fort Churchill NRCC NRCC Sub-orbital Aeronomy 13 January 1971 Successful
21 January
02:32 GMT		 Black Brant VB Fort Churchill NRCC NRCC Sub-orbital Auroral, ionospheric and plasma research 21 January 1971 Successful
21 January
18:28 GMT		 Titan 23B SLC-4W, Vandenberg AFB US Air Force OPS 7776 US Air Force/NRO LEO Surveillance satellite 9 February 1971 Successful
22 January
04:44 GMT		 Black Brant VB Fort Churchill NRCC NRCC Sub-orbital Auroral, ionospheric and plasma research 22 January 1971 Successful
26 January
00:36 GMT		 Atlas SLV-3C Centaur LC-36A, Cape Canaveral Intelsat 4 F-2 Intelsat Geosynchronous Comsat Still in orbit Successful
26 January
17:23 GMT		 Black Brant VB Fort Churchill NRCC NRCC Sub-orbital Ionospheric and Solar research 26 January Successful
31 January
21:03 GMT		 Saturn V LC-39A, Kennedy NASA Apollo 14 CSM "Kitty Hawk"
3 astronauts		 NASA Selenocentric Manned Lunar orbiter 9 February 1971 21:05 GMT Successful
Apollo 14 Lunar Module "Antares" NASA Lunar Manned Lunar landing 5 February 1971
09:17 GMT
(on Moon)		 Successful
5 February
22:46 GMT		 Black Brant IVB Fort Churchill NRCC NRCC Sub-orbital Auroral, Ionospheric, and meteorite research 5 February 1971 Successful
6 February
18:48 GMT		 Apollo 14 Lunar Module "Antares" ascent stage Apollo 14 Lunar Module "Antares" descent stage
Fra Mauro
The Moon		 NASA Apollo 14, 2 astronauts NASA Selenocentric Return Apollo 14 astronauts to CSM in orbit. 7 February 1971
00:46 GMT
(on Moon)		 Successful
17 February
03:52 GMT		 Thor Burner II SLC-10W, Vandenberg AFB US Air Force DMSP 5A F3 US Air Force LEO Weather satellite Still in orbit Successful
Calsphere 3A US Air Force LEO Radar calibration 17 October 1989 Successful
Calsphere 4 US Air Force LEO Radar calibration 20 September 1989 Successful
Calsphere 5 US Air Force LEO Radar calibration 17 January 1990 Successful
17 February
20:04 GMT		 Thorad Agena-D SLV-2H SLC-3W, Vandenberg AFB US Air Force KH-4B 1113 US Air Force Intended: LEO Surveillance satellite T+18 seconds Failure Overloading of orinite led to cracked valve, and loss of engine lubrication at launch.
SRV 825 US Air Force Intended: LEO Surveillance satellite
SRV 826 US Air Force Intended: LEO Surveillance satellite
20 February
03:33 GMT		 Black Brant IVA Fort Churchill NRCC (none) N/A N/A Research into Auroras, Ionosphere, and plasma N/A Successful
25 February
01:13 GMT		 Black Brant VB Wallops Island NASA (none) N/A N/A Aeronomy research N/A Successful
28 February
20:10 GMT		 Black Brant III Fort Churchill NRCC (none) N/A N/A Aeronomy N/A Successful
3 March
06:52 GMT		 Black Brant IVA Fort Churchill NRCC (none) N/A N/A Research Auroras N/A Successful
3 March
12:15 GMT		 Long March 1 LA-2A, Jiuquan SJ-1 LEO comsat 17 June 1979 Successful
20 March
03:24 GMT		 Black Brant II Fort Churchill NRCC (none) N/A N/A Test rocket
Research Ionosphere, and Auroras		 N/A Successful
21 March
03:45 GMT		 Titan 33B SLC-4W, Vandenberg AFB US Air Force Jumpseat 1 US Air Force/NRO High eccentricity LEO/MEO Still in orbit Successful
24 March
20:10 GMT		 Black Brant VC Fort Churchill AFCRL (none) N/A N/A Aeronomy N/A Successful
24 March
21:05 GMT		 Thorad Agena-D SLV-2H SLC-3W, Vandenberg AFB US Air Force KH-4B 1114 US Air Force LEO Surveillance satellite 12 April 1971 Failure Computer on satellite malfunctioned
1 April
02:57 GMT		 Thor Delta E1 SLC-2E, Vandenberg AFB ISIS 2 CRC LEO Ionospheric research. Still in orbit Successful Final flight of Thor Delta E1 launch vehicle
5 April Atlas F ABRES-A1, Vandenberg AFB US Air Force ABRES LAR-1 US Air Force Sub-orbital Test Re-entry vehicle 5 April 1971 Successful
19 April
01:40 GMT		 Proton 8K82K LC-81, Baikonur RVSN Salyut 1 RVSN LEO Space station 11 October 1971 Partial Failure First space station
Experiment bay door failed to separate
First crew failed to dock, and second crew killed on re-entry
22 April
15:30 GMT		 Titan 23B SLC-4W, Vandenberg AFB US Air Force OPS 7899 US Air Force/NRO LEO Surveillance satellite 13 May 1971 Successful
22 April
23:54 GMT		 R-7 11A511 (Soyuz/A-2) LC-1/5, Baikonur RVSN Soyuz 10, 3 cosmonauts RVSN LEO, Intended to be docked to Salyut 1 Manned mission to Salyut 1 space station 24 April 1971 Failure Docking system malfunction - mission aborted and spacecraft deorbited
5 May
07:43 GMT		 Titan IIIC LC-40, Cape Canaveral US Air Force IMEWS 2 US Air Force Geosynchronous Early warning defense satellite Still in orbit Successful
9 May
01:11 GMT		 Atlas SLV-3C Centaur LC-36A, Cape Canaveral Mariner H NASA Intended: Heliocentric Martian flyby probe
Mapping		 9 May 1971 Failure Premature second stage cutoff due to human error.
10 May
16:58 GMT		 Proton 8K82K LC-81, Baikonur RVSN Cosmos 419 (Mars M-71) RVSN Intended: Martian
Actual: LEO		 Martian photography 12 May 1971 Failure Fourth stage ignition delay accidentally entered as 1.5 years, rather than 1.5 hours
19 May
16:22 GMT		 Proton 8K82K LC-81, Baikonur RVSN Mars 2 RVSN Martian Martian orbiter Still in orbit Successful
Mars 2 lander RVSN N/A Martian lander 27 November 1971 Failure Descent system malfunctioned, did not survive landing
28 May
15:26 GMT		 Proton 8K82K LC-81, Baikonur RVSN Mars 3 RVSN Martian Martian orbiter Still in orbit Successful
Mars 3 lander RVSN N/A Martian lander 2 December 1971 Failure Failed 20 seconds after landing, unknown cause.
30 May
22:23 GMT		 Atlas SLV-3C Centaur LC-36B, Cape Canaveral Mariner 9 NASA Martian orbit Martian orbiter
Study martian atmosphere
Surface mapping		 Still in orbit Successful First planetary orbiter.
First artificial satellite of Mars.
6 June
04:55 GMT		 R-7 11A511 (Soyuz/A-2) LC-1/5, Baikonur RVSN Soyuz 11, 3 cosmonauts RVSN LEO, docked to Salyut 1 Manned mission to Salyut 1 space station 29 June 1971 Failure First manned space station
Pressure leak on re-entry resulted in loss of crew
7 June
05:26 GMT		 Black Brant IVA Fort Churchill AFCRL (none) N/A N/A Research Ionosphere N/A Successful
8 June
14:00 GMT		 Thor Burner II SLC-10W, Vandenberg AFB US Air Force SESP 70-1 US Air Force LEO Weather satellite 31 January 1982 Successful
15 June
18:41 GMT		 Titan IIID SLC-4E, Vandenberg AFB US Air Force KH-9 01 ("Big Bird") CIA/NRO LEO Surveillance satellite 6 August 1971 Successful Maiden flight of Titan IIID
20 June Titan II LC-395C, Vandenberg AFB US Air Force (none) N/A N/A SSTTP target mission N/A Successful
26 June
23:15 GMT		 N-1 LC-110L, Baikonur RVSN Boilerplate Soyuz spacecraft RVSN Intended: LEO Test LV T+51 seconds Failure Loss of control. Destroyed by range safety
29 June
10:12 GMT		 Atlas F/Trident ABRES-A3, Vandenberg AFB US Air Force ABRES RVTO-2 US Air Force Sub-orbital Test Re-entry vehicle 29 June 1971 Successful
16 July
10:50 GMT		 Thorad Agena-D SLV-2H SLC-1W, Vandenberg AFB US Air Force OPS 8373 US Air Force LEO Surveillance satellite 31 August 1978 Successful
21 July
16:00 GMT		 Black Brant VC Wallops Island NASA (none) N/A N/A Test rocket N/A Failure
26 July
13:34 GMT		 Saturn V LC-39A, Kennedy NASA Apollo 15 CSM "Endeavour"
3 astronauts		 NASA Lunar Manned Lunar orbiter 7 August 1971 Successful
Apollo 15 Lunar Module "Falcon" NASA Lunar Manned Lunar landing 30 July 1971
22:16 GMT
(at Moon)		 Successful First flight to carry lunar rover
Apollo 15 Subsatellite NASA Lunar Study lunar particles Unknown Successful First satellite to be deployed by manned spacecraft.
Deployed at 20:13 GMT on 4 August
2 August
17:11 GMT		 Apollo 15 Lunar Module "Falcon" ascent stage Apollo 15 Lunar Module "Falcon" descent stage, Hadley-Apennine
The Moon		 NASA Apollo 15, 2 astronauts NASA Lunar Return Apollo 15 astronauts to CSM in orbit. 3 August 1971
03:04 GMT
(at Moon)		 Successful
7 August
00:11 GMT		 Atlas F BMRS-A2, Vandenberg AFB US Air Force OV1-20P US Air Force LEO Technology research 28 August 1971 Successful
OV1-21P US Air Force LEO Technology research Still in orbit Successful
Cannonball 2 US Air Force LEO Technology research 31 January 1972 Successful
Musketball 1 US Air Force LEO Technology research 19 September 1971 Successful
Gridsphere 1 US Air Force LEO Technology research Still in orbit Successful
LCS 4 US Air Force LEO Technology research 11 June 1972 Successful
Gridsphere 2 US Air Force LEO Technology research 18 March 1979 Successful
Rigidsphere US Air Force LEO Technology research 2 November 1979 Successful
Mylar Balloon US Air Force LEO Technology research 1 September 1981 Successful
12 August
15:30 GMT		 Titan 23B SLC-4W, Vandenberg AFB US Air Force OPS 8607 US Air Force/NRO LEO Surveillance satellite 3 September 1971 Successful
27 August Titan II LC-395C, Vandenberg AFB US Air Force (none) N/A N/A SSTTP target mission N/A Successful
1 September Atlas F BMRS-A1, Vandenberg AFB US Air Force ABRES LAR-2 US Air Force Sub-orbital Test Re-entry vehicle 29 June 1971 Successful
2 September
13:40 GMT		 Proton 8K82K LC-81, Baikonur RVSN Luna 18 RVSN Lunar Lunar sample return 11 September 1971 (at Moon) Failure Crashed during landing attempt
4 September
13:52 GMT		 Black Brant IIIB Resolute Bay NASA (none) N/A N/A Research plasma N/A Successful
5 September
13:44 GMT		 Black Brant III Resolute Bay NASA (none) N/A N/A Research plasma N/A Successful
10 September DF-5 LA-2B, Jiuquan (none) N/A N/A Research and development N/A Successful Maiden flight of DF-5
10 September
21:33 GMT		 Thorad Agena-D SLV-2H SLC-3W, Vandenberg AFB US Air Force KH-4B 1115 US Air Force LEO Surveillance satellite 5 October 1971 Successful
SRV 831 US Air Force LEO Surveillance satellite 3 February 1976 Successful
OPS 7681 US Air Force LEO Surveillance satellite 3 February 1976 Successful
28 September
10:00 GMT		 Proton 8K82K LC-81, Baikonur RVSN Luna 19 RVSN Lunar Lunar orbiter and mapping Still in orbit Successful
29 September
09:45 GMT		 Thor Delta N LC-17A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station OSO 7 NASA LEO Solar observatory 9 July 1974 Successful
TETR 3 NASA LEO Technology research 19 September 1978 Successful
14 October
07:51 GMT		 Thor Burner II SLC-10W, Vandenberg AFB US Air Force DMSP 5B F1 US Air Force LEO Weather satellite Still in orbit Successful
17 October
13:36 GMT		 Thorad Agena D SLV-2G SLC-1W, Vandenberg AFB US Air Force ASTEX US Air Force LEO Technology research Still in orbit Successful
21 October
11:32 GMT		 Thor Delta N SLC-2E, Vandenberg AFB ITOS B NASA LEO Weather satellite 21 July 1972 Failure Space junk rendered orbit useless
23 October
17:16 GMT		 Titan 24B SLC-4W, Vandenberg AFB US Air Force OPS 7616 US Air Force/NRO LEO Surveillance satellite 17 November 1971 Successful
SRV-2 US Air Force/NRO LEO Surveillance satellite 17 November 1971 Successful
28 October
04:09 GMT		 Black Arrow LA-5B, Woomera RAE Prospero (X-3) RAE LEO Micrometeorite detection Still in orbit Successful First and so far only British launched satellite
3 November
03:09 GMT		 Titan IIIC LC-40, Cape Canaveral US Air Force DSCS-II 01 US Air Force Geosynchronous Military comsat Still in orbit Successful
DSCS-II 02 US Air Force Geosynchronous Military comsat Still in orbit Successful
5 November
13:00 GMT		 Europa CECLES, Kourou ELDO STV-4 ELDO/ESA Intended: LEO Test LV 5 November 1971 Failure Third stage structural failure, final flight of Europa
4 December
22:30 GMT		 Atlas-Agena-D SLV-3A LC-13, Cape Canaveral US Air Force Canyon 4 (AFP-827) US Air Force Intended: Geosynchronous Military Comsat 4 December 1971 Failure First stage malfunction
17 October
13:36 GMT		 Thorad Agena D SLV-2G SLC-1W, Vandenberg AFB US Air Force OPS 7898 P/L1 US Air Force LEO Technology research Still in orbit Successful Final flight of Thorad Agena D SLV-2G
OPS 7898 P/L2 US Air Force LEO Technology research Still in orbit Successful
OPS 7898 P/L3 US Air Force LEO Technology research Still in orbit Successful
OPS 7898 P/L4 US Air Force LEO Technology research Still in orbit Successful
20 December
01:10 GMT		 Atlas SLV-3C Centaur LC-36A, Cape Canaveral Intelsat 4 F-3 Intelsat Geosynchronous Comsat Still in orbit Successful

Deep space rendezvous in 1971

References
Generic references:

Footnotes

1940s 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
1950s 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
1960s 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
1970s 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980s 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
1990s 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
2000s 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
2010s 2010 2011 2012 2013
Preceded by
1970		 Timeline of spaceflight
1971		 Succeeded by
1972