1986 in spaceflight

Last updated

1986 in spaceflight
Challenger explosion.jpg
Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrates during the launch of STS-51-L, killing all seven astronauts
National firsts
Satellite Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden
Rockets
Maiden flights Ariane 2
Retirements Ariane 1
Space Shuttle Challenger
Crewed flights
Orbital2
Total travellers9
1986 in spaceflight
  1985
1987  

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]

Contents

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
Flag of the United States.svg Space Shuttle Columbia Flag of the United States.svg Kennedy LC-39A Flag of the United States.svg United Space Alliance
Flag of the United States.svg STS-61-C NASA Low Earth Satellite deployment18 January
13:58
Successful
Flag of the United States.svg Satcom K1 RCA Americom Geosynchronous CommunicationsIn orbitSuccessful
Flag of the United States.svg MSL-2 NASALow Earth (Columbia)Microgravity experiments18 January
13:58
Successful
Flag of the United States.svg Getaway Special Bridge NASALow Earth (Columbia) Getaway Special carrier18 January
13:58
Successful
Crewed orbital flight with seven astronauts; Maiden flight of the Getaway Special Bridge
28 January
16:38
Flag of the United States.svg Space Shuttle Challenger Flag of the United States.svg Kennedy LC-39B Flag of the United States.svg United Space Alliance
Flag of the United States.svg STS-51-L NASAIntended: Low EarthSatellite deployment+ 73 secondsLaunch failure
Flag of the United States.svg TDRS-B NASAIntended: GeosynchronousCommunications
Flag of the United States.svg SPARTAN 203 NASAIntended: Low EarthExamine 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
Flag of the United States.svg Atlas H Flag of the United States.svg Vandenberg SLC-3E Flag of the United States.svg
Flag of the United States.svg USA-15 (NOSS-8)US NavyLow Earth SIGINT In orbitSuccessful
Flag of the United States.svg USA-16 (NOSS)US NavyLow EarthSIGINTIn orbitSuccessful
Flag of the United States.svg USA-17 (NOSS)US NavyLow EarthSIGINTIn orbitSuccessful
Flag of the United States.svg USA-18 (NOSS)US NavyLow EarthSIGINTIn orbitSuccessful
19 February
21:28
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Proton-K Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Baikonur Site 200/39 Flag of the Soviet Union.svg
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg 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
Flag of France.svg Ariane 1 Flag of France.svg Kourou ELA Flag of France.svg Arianespace
Flag of France.svg SPOT 1 CNES Sun-synchronous Earth observation In orbitSuccessful
Flag of Sweden.svg Viking SSC Sun-synchronousPlasma researchIn orbitSuccessful
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
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Soyuz-U2 Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Baikonur Site 1/5 Flag of the Soviet Union.svg
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg 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
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Soyuz-U2 Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Baikonur Site 1/5 Flag of the Soviet Union.svg
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Progress 25 Low Earth (Mir)Logistics21 April
00:48
Successful
28 March
23:30
Flag of France.svg Ariane 3 Flag of France.svg Kourou ELA Flag of France.svg Arianespace
Flag of the United States.svg GStar 2 GTE Spacenet GeosynchronousCommunicationsIn orbitSuccessful
Flag of Brazil.svg Brasilsat-A2 Embratel Current: Graveyard
Operational: Geosynchronous
CommunicationsIn orbitSuccessful
Brasilsat-A2 was retired on 6 March 2004 and moved 200 kilometres (120 mi) higher to a graveyard orbit

April

18 April
17:45
Flag of the United States.svg Titan 34D Flag of the United States.svg Vandenberg SLC-4E Flag of the United States.svg
Flag of the United States.svg KH-9-20 NRO Intended: Sun-synchronousReconnaissance+ 8.5 secondsLaunch Failure
Flag of the United States.svg SSF-D-6 NROIntended: Sun-synchronousELINT
SRM burnthrough, exploded 8.5 seconds after launch
Final flight of the KH-9 spacecraft
23 April
19:40
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Soyuz-U2 Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Baikonur Site 1/5 Flag of the Soviet Union.svg
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Progress 26 Low Earth (Mir)Logistics23 June
18:41
Successful

May

3 May
22:18
Flag of the United States.svg Delta 3914 Flag of the United States.svg Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 17A Flag of the United States.svg McDonnell Douglas
Flag of the United States.svg GOES-G NOAA, NASA GeostationaryWeather satellite3 MayLaunch Failure
Rocket destroyed 71 sec. after liftoff due to engine shutdown; First launch from CCAFS after Space Shuttle Challenger disaster
21 May
08:21
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Soyuz-U2 Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Baikonur Site 1/5 Flag of the Soviet Union.svg
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Soyuz TM-1 Low Earth (Mir)Test flight30 May
04:26
Successful
Maiden flight of Soyuz-TM spacecraft; Uncrewed test flight
31 May
00:53
Flag of France.svg Ariane 2 Flag of France.svg Kourou ELA Flag of France.svg Arianespace
Flag of the United Nations.svg Intelsat 514 Intelsat Intended: GeosynchronousCommunications31 MayLaunch Failure
Maiden flight of Ariane 2; Third stage failed to ignite

August

28 August
08:02
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Molniya-M/2BL Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Plesetsk Site 16/2 Flag of the Soviet Union.svg
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Kosmos 1774 (Oko) Molniya Missile defence2 November 2010
15:14
Successful

September

5 September
15:08
Flag of the United States.svg Delta 3920 Flag of the United States.svg Cape Canaveral LC-17B Flag of the United States.svg NASA
Flag of the United States.svg USA-19 (Delta 180) SDIO LEOSensor development28 October 1986Successful
Satellite impactor test for the Strategic Defense Initiative.
17 September
15:52
Flag of the United States.svg Atlas E/Star-37S-ISS Flag of the United States.svg Vandenberg SLC-3W Flag of the United States.svg
Flag of the United States.svg NOAA-10 (NOAA-G) NOAA Sun-synchronous Meteorology In orbitSuccessful

November

14 November
00:23
Flag of the United States.svg Scout G-1 Flag of the United States.svg Vandenberg SLC-5 Flag of the United States.svg US Air Force
Flag of the United States.svg Polar BEAR P87-1US Air Force/STP Low Earth (Polar)In orbitSuccessful

December

5 December
02:30
Flag of the United States.svg Atlas G Flag of the United States.svg Cape Canaveral LC-36B Flag of the United States.svg
Flag of the United States.svg USA-20 (FLTSATCOM 7)US NavyGeosynchronousCommunicationsIn orbitSuccessful

Deep space rendezvous

Date (GMT)SpacecraftEventRemarks
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 CometClosest approach: 151,000 kilometres (94,000 mi)
9 March Vega 2 Flyby of Halley's CometClosest approach: 8,030 kilometres (4,990 mi)
11 March Sakigake Distant flyby of Halley's CometClosest approach: 6,990,000 kilometres (4,340,000 mi)
14 March Giotto Flyby of Halley's CometClosest approach: 595 kilometres (370 mi)

EVAs

Start date/timeDurationEnd timeSpacecraftCrewRemarks
28 May
05:43
3 hours
50 minutes
09:33 Salyut 7 EO-5 Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Leonid Kizim
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg 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 hours09:57Salyut 7 EO-5 Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Leonid Kizim
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Vladimir Solovyov
Conducted additional tests on the experimental construction equipment, including the welding of several girders joints.

References

  1. "NASA - STS-51L Mission Profile". NASA.gov. NASA. 19 January 2016. Archived from the original on 5 May 2017. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  2. "Mission Archives: STS-61-C". NASA.gov. NASA. Archived from the original on 2 August 2017. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  3. "Mission Archives: STS-26". NASA.gov. NASA. Archived from the original on 3 August 2017. Retrieved 19 February 2017.
Generic references:
RocketSunIcon.svg Spaceflightportal
Preceded by Timeline of spaceflight
1986
Succeeded by