1969 in spaceflight

1969 saw for the first time humanity step onto another world. On July 21, 1969 Apollo 11 deployed the Eagle LM to land on the moon's surface. The success of Apollo 11 saw the efforts of over 500,000 engineers, scientists and technicians. There were other successes with the Soviet space programme docking of two manned spacecraft and the success of their Venus and Lunar probes. Still the Soviet lunar programme suffered problems with the N1 rocket exploding on the launch pad.

Launches

This is a list of spaceflights launched in 1969.

Launch Date/Time	Rocket	Launch Site	Launch Contractor	Payload	Operator	Orbit	Mission/ Function	Re-Entry/ Destruction	Outcome	Remarks
January 14 07:30 GMT	Soyuz (R-7/A-2)	LC-31 Baikonur	RVSN	Soyuz 4, 1 Cosmonaut (Vladimir Shatalov)	RVSN	LEO	Manned Orbital Flight	January 17, 1969	Successful	First docking between two manned spacecraft (with Soyuz 5)
January 15 07:04 GMT	Soyuz (R-7/A-2)	LC-1/5 Baikonur	RVSN	Soyuz 5, 2 Cosmonauts	RVSN	LEO	Manned Orbital Flight	January 18, 1969	Successful	First docking between two manned spacecraft (with Soyuz 4)
March 3 16:00 GMT	Saturn V (C-5)	LC-39A Kennedy	NASA	Apollo 9 CSM Gumdrop 3 astronauts	NASA	LEO	Manned Orbital Flight	March 13, 1969	Successful
				Apollo 9 LM Spider	NASA	LEO	Test spacecraft	March 13, 1969	Successful	First manned test of Lunar Module
May 18 16:49 GMT	Saturn V (C-5)	LC-39B Kennedy	NASA	Apollo 10 CSM Charlie Brown 3 astronauts	NASA	Lunar orbit	Manned Lunar Orbital Flight	May 26, 1969	Successful	"Dress rehearsal" of Apollo Moon Landings
				Apollo 10 LM Snoopy	NASA	Lunar orbit, then Heliocentric orbit	Test spacecraft	N/A	Successful	First manned test of Lunar Module in lunar orbit
June 27 22:58 GMT	Black Arrow	Woomera	RAE	(none)	N/A	N/A	Test launch vehicle	N/A	Failure	Self-destruct activated by RSO after loss of control
July 3	N-1	Soviet Union	Soviet space program	(unknown)	N/A	N/A	Test launch vehicle	N/A	Failure	Exploded due to faulty engines and a bolt that was sucked into a fuel pump.
July 16 13:32 GMT	Saturn V (C-5)	LC-39A Kennedy	NASA	Apollo 11 CSM Columbia 3 astronauts	NASA	Lunar orbit	Manned Lunar Orbital Flight	July 24, 1969	Successful
				Apollo 11 LM Eagle	NASA	Lunar orbit	Manned Lunar Landing	July 20, 1969	Successful	First manned Moon landing
July 20 21:54 GMT	Apollo LM Ascent Stage	Apollo 11 LM Descent Stage Mare Tranquillitatis The Moon	NASA	Apollo 11 LM Ascent Stage Eagle 2 Astronauts	NASA	Lunar Orbit	Return Apollo 11 astronauts to CSM for journey back to Earth		Successful	First spacecraft to launch from the Moon
October 11 11:10 GMT	Soyuz (R-7/A-2)	LC-31/6, Baikonur	RVSN	Soyuz 6, 2 Cosmonauts	RVSN	LEO	Manned Orbital Flight	October 16, 1969	Partial Failure	Rendezvous with Soyuz 7 and 8 unsuccessful due to electronic failure.
October 12 10:44 GMT	Soyuz (R-7/A-2)	LC-1/5, Baikonur	RVSN	Soyuz 7, 3 Cosmonauts	RVSN	LEO	Manned Orbital Flight	October 16, 1969	Partial Failure	Rendezvous with Soyuz 6 and 8 unsuccessful due to electronic failure.
October 13 10:19 GMT	Soyuz (R-7/A-2)	LC-31/6, Baikonur	RVSN	Soyuz 8, 2 Cosmonauts	RVSN	LEO	Manned Orbital Flight	October 16, 1969	Partial Failure	Rendezvous with Soyuz 6 and 7 unsuccessful due to electronic failure.
November 14 16:22 GMT	Saturn V (C-5)	LC-39A Kennedy	NASA	Apollo 12 CSM Yankee Clipper 3 astronauts	NASA	Lunar orbit	Manned Lunar Orbital Flight	November 24, 1969	Successful
				Apollo 12 LM Intrepid	NASA	Lunar orbit	Manned Lunar Landing	November 18, 1969 GMT	Successful	Recovered parts of Surveyor 3
November 20 04:26 GMT	Apollo LM Ascent Stage	Apollo 12 LM Descent Stage Oceanus Procellarum The Moon	NASA	Apollo 12 LM Ascent Stage Intrepid 2 Astronauts	NASA	Lunar Orbit	Return Apollo 12 astronauts to CSM for journey back to Earth	November 20, 1969 12:17 GMT at Moon	Successful

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

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". "NASASpaceFlight.com". "Spaceflight Now". "Space Information Center". JAXA. "Space Calendar". NASA JPL. "ISS Calendar". Spaceflight 101. "Launch Forecast". Space.com. Clark, Stephen. "Launch Schedule". Spaceflight Now. "U.S. Space Objects Registry". "Хроника освоения космоса" [Chronicle of space exploration]. Cosmoworld.ru (in Russian).

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