1972 in spaceflight
 | This page needs to be to bring it in line with the new format for timeline of spaceflight articles. |
| This timeline of spaceflight may require cleanup to ensure consistency with other timeline of spaceflight articles. See Wikipedia:WikiProject Spaceflight/Timeline of spaceflight working group for guidelines on how to improve the article. Details Concerns have been raised that:
|  |
 The final Apollo mission to the Moon | |
1972 saw humanity's last crewed mission to the Moon of the 20th century, Apollo 17.
Launches[]
This is a list of spaceflights launched in 1972.
 | This list is incomplete; you can help by . (August 2008) |
| Launch date/time | Rocket | Launch site |
Launch contractor | Payload | Operator | Orbit | Mission/ function |
Reentry/ destruction |
Outcome | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 23 00:12 GMT |
Atlas SLV-3C Centaur | LC-36B, Cape Canaveral | Intelsat | Geosynchronous | Comsat | Still in orbit | Successful | |||
| January 31 17:20 GMT |
Thor Delta L | SLC-2E, Vandenberg AFB | ESRO | High eccentricity LEO/HEO | Particle and field research | August 2, 1974 | Successful | Final flight of Thor Delta L | ||
| February 14 03:27 GMT |
Proton 8K82K | LC-81, Baikonur | RVSN | Luna 20 | RVSN | Lunar | Lunar sample return | February 21, 1972 (at Moon) | Successful | |
| March 3 01:49 GMT |
Atlas SLV-3C Centaur | LC-36A, Cape Canaveral | Pioneer 10 | NASA | Heliocentric to Solar Escape | Jupiter flyby | N/A | Successful | First spacecraft to cross asteroid belt First flyby of Jupiter First probe to leave Solar System | |
| March 12 01:55 GMT |
Thor Delta N | SLC-2E, Vandenberg AFB | TD-1A | ESRO | LEO | Technology research | January 9, 1980 | Successful | Final flight of Thor Delta N | |
| March 24 08:46 GMT |
SLC-10W, Vandenberg AFB | US Air Force | DMSP 5B F2 | US Air Force | LEO | Weather satellite | Still in orbit | Successful | ||
| April 16 17:45 GMT |
Saturn V | LC-39A, Kennedy | NASA | Apollo 16 CSM "Casper" 3 astronauts |
NASA | Lunar | Crewed Lunar orbiter | April 27, 1972 | Successful | Penultimate Moonshot |
| Apollo 16 lunar module "Orion" | NASA | Lunar | Crewed Lunar landing | April 20, 1972 14:23 GMT (at Moon) |
Successful | |||||
| Apollo 16 Subsatellite | NASA | Lunar | Study lunar particles | May 29, 1972 (at Moon) | Partial Failure | Deployed on April 24 Placed in wrong orbit, shorter lifespan than planned | ||||
| April 19 21:43 GMT |
SLC-3W, Vandenberg AFB | US Air Force | KH-4B 1116 | US Air Force | LEO | Surveillance satellite | May 12, 1972 | |||
| May 25 18:41 GMT |
SLC-3W, Vandenberg AFB | US Air Force | KH-4B 1117 | US Air Force | LEO | Surveillance satellite | June 4, 1972 | Successful | Final flight of | |
| June 13 21:53 GMT |
Atlas SLV-3C Centaur | LC-36B, Cape Canaveral | Intelsat | Geosynchronous | Comsat | Still in orbit | Successful | |||
| June 26 14:53 GMT |
R-7 11A511 (Soyuz/A-2) | LC-1/5, Baikonur | RVSN | Kosmos 496 (Soyuz 7K-T) | RVSN | LEO | Test redesigned Soyuz 7K-T spacecraft | July 2, 1972 | Successful | |
| July 23 18:41 GMT |
Delta 0100 (0900) | SLC-2W, Vandenberg AFB | Landsat 1 | NASA | LEO | Earth resources satellite | Still in orbit | Successful | Maiden flight of Delta 0100 | |
| August 21 10:28 GMT |
Atlas SLV-3C Centaur | LC-36B, Cape Canaveral | NASA | LEO | Ultraviolet astronomy | Still in orbit | Successful | Final flight of Atlas SLV-3C Centaur | ||
| September 23 01:20 GMT |
Delta 1000 (1604) | LC-17B, Cape Canaveral | Explorer 47 | NASA | HEO | Magnetosphere research satellite | Still in orbit | Successful | Maiden flight of Delta 1000 Maiden flight of Extended Long-Tank Thor | |
| October 2 20:09 GMT |
Atlas F | , Vandenberg AFB | US Air Force | (RADCAT) | US Air Force | LEO | Technology research | 2 August 2012 | Successful | |
| US Air Force | LEO | Technology research | Still in orbit | Successful | ||||||
| October 15 17:19 GMT |
Delta 0100 (0300) | SLC-2W, Vandenberg AFB | NOAA | LEO | Weather satellite | Still in orbit | Successful | |||
| Amsat | LEO | Amateur comsat | Still in orbit | Successful | ||||||
| November 9 03:23 GMT |
SLC-10W, Vandenberg AFB | US Air Force | DMSP 5B F3 | US Air Force | LEO | Weather satellite | Still in orbit | Successful | ||
| November 10 01:14 GMT |
Delta 1000 (1914) | LC-17B, Cape Canaveral | Anik A1 | Telesat | Geosynchronous | Comsat | Still in orbit | Successful | ||
| December 7 05:33 GMT |
Saturn V | LC-39A, Kennedy | NASA | Apollo 17 CSM "America" 3 astronauts |
NASA | Lunar | Crewed Lunar orbiter | December 19, 1971 | Successful | Final Moonshot Final flight of Saturn V |
| Apollo 17 lunar module "Challenger" | NASA | Lunar | Crewed Lunar landing | December 14, 1971 GMT (at Moon) |
Successful | |||||
| December 11 07:56 GMT |
Delta 0100 (0900) | SLC-2W, Vandenberg AFB | Nimbus 5 | NASA | LEO | Environmental research satellite | Still in orbit | Successful | ||
| December 16 |
Scout | Western Space and Missile Center at Vandenberg AFB | NASA | Aeros 1 | NASA | Successful | ||||
| December 20 22:20 GMT |
Atlas-Agena SLV-3A | LC-13, Cape Canaveral | US Air Force | Canyon 5 | US Air Force | Geosynchronous | Military Comsat | Still in orbit | Successful |
Launches from the Moon[]
| Date and time (UTC) | Rocket | Flight number | Launch site | LSP | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Payload (⚀ = CubeSat) |
Operator | Orbit | Function | Decay (UTC) | Outcome | ||
| Remarks | |||||||
| 22 February 22:58 |
 Luna 20 Ascent stage
|
(Luna) | |||||
| Luna 16 Return capsule
|
|
Highly elliptical | Sample return | 25 February | Successful | ||
| Second uncrewed lunar sample return mission | |||||||
| 24 April 01:25:47 |
 Lunar Module Ascent Stage
|
Descartes Highlands (Luna) | NASA
| ||||
| Apollo 16 LM
|
NASA | Selenocentric (CSM) | Crewed | Unknown | Successful | ||
| Carrying two astronauts back to CSM after lunar landing | |||||||
| 14 December 22:54:37 |
Lunar Module Ascent Stage
|
Taurus-Littrow (Luna) | NASA
| ||||
| Apollo 17 LM
|
NASA | Selenocentric (CSM) | Crewed | 15 December 06:50 |
Successful | ||
| Carrying two astronauts back to CSM after lunar landing | |||||||
Deep space rendezvous in 1972[]
- February 21 – Luna 20, 55g from Apollonius Crater (sample return mission)
- April 21 – Apollo 16, 95 kg from Descartes Highlands (sample return mission)
- July 22 – Venera 8 atmospheric probe worked for 50 min on the Venerian surface
- December 11 – Apollo 17, 111 kg from Taurus–Littrow (sample return mission)
References[]
Generic references:
Spaceflight portal
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[]
Categories:
- 1972 in spaceflight
- Spaceflight by year