1986 in spaceflight
| National firsts | |
|---|---|
| Satellite | Sweden |
| Rockets | |
| Maiden flights | Ariane 2 |
| Retirements | Ariane 1 Space Shuttle Challenger |
| Crewed flights | |
| Orbital | 2 |
| Total travellers | 9 |
The year 1986 saw the destruction of Space Shuttle Challenger shortly after lift-off, killing all seven aboard,[1] the first in-flight deaths of American astronauts. This accident followed the successful flight of Columbia just weeks earlier,[2] and dealt a major setback to the U.S. crewed space program, suspending the Shuttle program for 32 months.[3]
The year also saw numerous fly-bys of Halley's Comet as well as other successes.
Launches
| Date and time (UTC) | Rocket | Flight number | Launch site | LSP | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Payload (⚀ = CubeSat) |
Operator | Orbit | Function | Decay (UTC) | Outcome | ||
| Remarks | |||||||
January | |||||||
| 12 January 11:55 |
Space Shuttle Columbia | Kennedy LC-39A | United Space Alliance | ||||
| STS-61-C | NASA | Low Earth | Satellite deployment | 18 January 13:58 |
Successful | ||
| Satcom K1 | RCA Americom | Geosynchronous | Communications | In orbit | Successful | ||
| MSL-2 | NASA | Low Earth (Columbia) | Microgravity experiments | 18 January 13:58 |
Successful | ||
| Getaway Special Bridge | NASA | Low Earth (Columbia) | Getaway Special carrier | 18 January 13:58 |
Successful | ||
| Crewed orbital flight with seven astronauts; Maiden flight of the Getaway Special Bridge | |||||||
| 28 January 16:38 |
Space Shuttle Challenger | Kennedy LC-39B | United Space Alliance | ||||
| STS-51-L | NASA | Intended: Low Earth | Satellite deployment | + 73 seconds | Launch failure | ||
| TDRS-B | NASA | Intended: Geosynchronous | Communications | ||||
| SPARTAN 203 | NASA | Intended: Low Earth | Examine Halley's Comet | ||||
| Space Shuttle Challenger disaster; Vehicle disintegrated at + 73 seconds from an O-ring failure in the right SRB. All seven astronauts were killed, including Christa McAuliffe, the intended first Teacher in Space. First Shuttle launch from LC-39B. | |||||||
February | |||||||
| 9 February 10:06 |
Atlas H | Vandenberg SLC-3E | |||||
| USA-15 (NOSS-8) | US Navy | Low Earth | SIGINT | In orbit | Successful | ||
| USA-16 (NOSS) | US Navy | Low Earth | SIGINT | In orbit | Successful | ||
| USA-17 (NOSS) | US Navy | Low Earth | SIGINT | In orbit | Successful | ||
| USA-18 (NOSS) | US Navy | Low Earth | SIGINT | In orbit | Successful | ||
| 19 February 21:28 |
Proton-K | Baikonur Site 200/39 | |||||
| DOS-7 (Mir Core) | Low Earth (Mir) | Space station | 23 March 2001 05:07 |
Successful | |||
| Core module of the Mir space station | |||||||
| 22 February 01:44 |
Ariane 1 | Kourou ELA | Arianespace | ||||
| SPOT 1 | CNES | Sun-synchronous | Earth observation | In orbit | Successful | ||
| Viking | SSC | Sun-synchronous | Plasma research | In orbit | Successful | ||
| Final flight of Ariane 1 SPOT 1 retired on 31 December 1990 and orbit was lowered to a disposal orbit in 2003 Viking is the first Swedish satellite, and operations concluded on 12 May 1987 | |||||||
March | |||||||
| 13 March 12:33 |
Soyuz-U2 | Baikonur Site 1/5 | |||||
| Soyuz T-15 | Low Earth (Salyut 7 and Mir) |
Salyut 7 EO-5 Mir EO-1 |
16 July 12:34 |
Successful | |||
| Crewed orbital flight with two cosmonauts; Final crewed spaceflight to Salyut 7 and the first to Mir. Final flight of the Soyuz-T spacecraft. Only spacecraft to dock with two space stations during one flight. | |||||||
| 19 March 10:08 |
Soyuz-U2 | Baikonur Site 1/5 | |||||
| Progress 25 | Low Earth (Mir) | Logistics | 21 April 00:48 |
Successful | |||
| 28 March 23:30 |
Ariane 3 | Kourou ELA | Arianespace | ||||
| GStar 2 | GTE Spacenet | Geosynchronous | Communications | In orbit | Successful | ||
| Brasilsat-A2 | Embratel | Current: Graveyard Operational: Geosynchronous |
Communications | In orbit | Successful | ||
| Brasilsat-A2 was retired on 6 March 2004 and moved 200 kilometres (120 mi) higher to a graveyard orbit | |||||||
April | |||||||
| 18 April 17:45 |
Titan 34D | Vandenberg SLC-4E | |||||
| KH-9-20 | NRO | Intended: Sun-synchronous | Reconnaissance | + 8.5 seconds | Launch Failure | ||
| SSF-D-6 | NRO | Intended: Sun-synchronous | ELINT | ||||
| SRM burnthrough, exploded 8.5 seconds after launch Final flight of the KH-9 spacecraft | |||||||
| 23 April 19:40 |
Soyuz-U2 | Baikonur Site 1/5 | |||||
| Progress 26 | Low Earth (Mir) | Logistics | 23 June 18:41 |
Successful | |||
May | |||||||
| 3 May 22:18 |
Delta 3914 | Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 17A | McDonnell Douglas | ||||
| GOES-G | NOAA, NASA | Geostationary | Weather satellite | 3 May | Launch Failure | ||
| Rocket destroyed 71 sec. after liftoff due to engine shutdown; First launch from CCAFS after Space Shuttle Challenger disaster | |||||||
| 21 May 08:21 |
Soyuz-U2 | Baikonur Site 1/5 | |||||
| Soyuz TM-1 | Low Earth (Mir) | Test flight | 30 May 04:26 |
Successful | |||
| Maiden flight of Soyuz-TM spacecraft; Uncrewed test flight | |||||||
| 31 May 00:53 |
Ariane 2 | Kourou ELA | Arianespace | ||||
| Intelsat 514 | Intelsat | Intended: Geosynchronous | Communications | 31 May | Launch Failure | ||
| Maiden flight of Ariane 2; Third stage failed to ignite | |||||||
August | |||||||
| 28 August 08:02 |
Molniya-M/2BL | Plesetsk Site 16/2 | |||||
| Kosmos 1774 (Oko) | Molniya | Missile defence | 2 November 2010 15:14 |
Successful | |||
September | |||||||
| 5 September 15:08 |
Delta 3920 | Cape Canaveral LC-17B | NASA | ||||
| USA-19 (Delta 180) | SDIO | LEO | Sensor development | 28 October 1986 | Successful | ||
| Satellite impactor test for the Strategic Defense Initiative. | |||||||
| 17 September 15:52 |
Atlas E/Star-37S-ISS | Vandenberg SLC-3W | |||||
| NOAA-10 (NOAA-G) | NOAA | Sun-synchronous | Meteorology | In orbit | Successful | ||
November | |||||||
| 14 November 00:23 |
Scout G-1 | Vandenberg SLC-5 | US Air Force | ||||
| Polar BEAR P87-1 | US Air Force/STP | Low Earth (Polar) | In orbit | Successful | |||
December | |||||||
| 5 December 02:30 |
Atlas G | Cape Canaveral LC-36B | |||||
| USA-20 (FLTSATCOM 7) | US Navy | Geosynchronous | Communications | In orbit | Successful | ||
Deep space rendezvous
| Date (GMT) | Spacecraft | Event | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24 January | Voyager 2 | Flyby of Uranus | Closest approach: 71,000 kilometres (44,000 mi) |
| 6 March | Vega 1 | Flyby of Halley's Comet | Closest approach: 8,890 kilometres (5,520 mi) |
| 8 March | Suisei | Flyby of Halley's Comet | Closest approach: 151,000 kilometres (94,000 mi) |
| 9 March | Vega 2 | Flyby of Halley's Comet | Closest approach: 8,030 kilometres (4,990 mi) |
| 11 March | Sakigake | Distant flyby of Halley's Comet | Closest approach: 6,990,000 kilometres (4,340,000 mi) |
| 14 March | Giotto | Flyby of Halley's Comet | Closest approach: 595 kilometres (370 mi) |
EVAs
| Start date/time | Duration | End time | Spacecraft | Crew | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28 May 05:43 |
3 hours 50 minutes |
09:33 | Salyut 7 EO-5 | Leonid Kizim Vladimir Solovyov |
Retrieved test panels from the outside of Salyut 7 and assembled a test "girder-constructor" apparatus in preparation for work on Mir. |
| 31 May 04:57 |
5 hours | 09:57 | Salyut 7 EO-5 | Leonid Kizim Vladimir Solovyov |
Conducted additional tests on the experimental construction equipment, including the welding of several girders joints. |
References
- ^ "NASA - STS-51L Mission Profile". NASA.gov. NASA. 19 January 2016. Archived from the original on 5 May 2017. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
- ^ "Mission Archives: STS-61-C". NASA.gov. NASA. Archived from the original on 2 August 2017. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
- ^ "Mission Archives: STS-26". NASA.gov. NASA. Archived from the original on 3 August 2017. Retrieved 19 February 2017.
- 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. "GCAT Orbital Launch Log".
- 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.
- "Хроника освоения космоса" [Chronicle of space exploration]. CosmoWorld (in Russian).
- "Rocket Launch Manifest". Next Spaceflight.
- "Space Launch Plans". Novosti Kosmonavtiki.