1969 in spaceflight

1969 saw humanity step onto another world for the first time. On July 21, 1969, the Apollo 11 Lunar Module, Eagle, landed on the moon's surface with two astronauts aboard. Days later the crew of three returned safely to Earth, satisfying U.S. President John F. Kennedy's 1962 challenge of May 25, 1961, that “this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth.”^[1][2]

There were four Apollo missions in total in 1969, three of which traveled to the moon, with Apollo 12 also landing on the surface. The success of the Apollo program was a testament to the efforts of over 500,000 American engineers, scientists and technicians.

In 1969, the Soviet Union's space program had success with the docking of two manned spacecraft as well as the success of their Venus and Lunar probes. The Soviets, however, suffered severe blows to their manned Lunar aspirations when their N1 rocket failed twice during two 1969 launches.

Launches

This is a list of spaceflights launched in 1969.

Deep Space Rendez-vous in 1969

• May 16 — Venera 5 atmospheric probe worked for 53 min in the Venerian atmosphere
• May 17 — Venera 6 atmospheric probe worked for 51 min in the Venerian atmosphere
• May 21 — Apollo 10 completed 31 lunar orbits (15,4 km)
• July 20 — Apollo 11, 22 kg from Mare Tranquillitatis (sample return mission)
• July 21 — Luna 15 impacted at Mare Crisium (sample return mission)
• August 5 — Mariner 6 flyby of Mars, 25 close-up pictures (3,412 km)
• August 5 — Mariner 7 flyby of Mars, 33 close-up pictures (3,543 km)
• August 11 — Zond 7 circumlunar flight (1,984 km)
• November 19 — Apollo 12, 34 kg from Oceanus Procellarum (sample return mission)

References