1991 in spaceflight

1991 in spaceflight
	The crew of STS-37 deploys the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory.
Orbital launches
First	8 January
Last	28 December
Total	91
Successes	86
Failures	3
Partial failures	2
National firsts
Space traveller	Austria ; United Kingdom
Rockets
Maiden flights	Ariane 4 44P; Atlas II
Retirements	Vostok-2M
Crewed flights
Orbital	8
Total travellers	36
	v ; t ; e ;

Last updated December 30, 2022

This was the final year of the Soviet Union, and thus the end of the Cold War competition between the two space superpowers. The number of launches subsequently declined in the 1990s, and 2018 was the first year since 1990 to have more than 100 orbital launches.

Deep Space Rendezvous in 1991

Date (GMT)	Spacecraft	Event	Remarks
29 October	Galileo	First flyby of asteroid - 951 Gaspra	Closest approach: 1,600 kilometres (990 mi)

EVAs

Start Date/Time	Duration	End Time	Spacecraft	Crew	Remarks
7 January 17:03	5 hours 18 minutes	22:21	Mir EO-8	Viktor Afanasyev Musa Manarov	Successfully repaired the damaged hatch on the Kvant-2 airlock and also positioned equipment for installation in a later EVA.
23 January 10:59	5 hours 33 minutes	16:32	Mir EO-8 Kvant-2	Viktor Afanasyev Musa Manarov	Installed the new Stela boom on the base block.
26 January 09:00	6 hours 20 minutes	15:20	Mir EO-8 Kvant-2	Viktor Afanasyev Musa Manarov	Installed supports on Kvant-1 to hold the solar arrays installed on Kristall .
7 April	4 hours 26 minutes		STS-37 Atlantis	Jerry L. Ross Jerome Apt	When the boom antenna on the GRO satellite would not extend, Ross and Apt exited the shuttle on an unplanned EVA to extend the boom to prepare for final release into orbit.^[1]
8 April	5 hours 47 minutes		STS-37 Atlantis	Jerry L. Ross Jerome Apt	Installed and tested several monorail-type mobility tools for future space station construction.^[1]
25 April 20:29	3 hours 34 minutes	26 April 00:03	Mir EO-8 Kvant-2	Viktor Afanasyev Musa Manarov	Inspected and filmed the Kurs antenna on Kvant-1, finding that one of the antenna dishes was missing and then re-installed the camera on Kvant-2 that was removed and repaired.
24 June 21:11	4 hours 58 minutes	25 June 02:09	Mir EO-9 Kvant-2	Anatoly Artsebarsky Sergei Krikalyov	Replaced the damaged Kurs antenna on Kvant-1 and performed assembly tests on an experimental structural joint.
28 June 19:02	3 hours 24 minutes	22:26	Mir EO-9 Kvant-2	Anatoly Artsebarsky Sergei Krikalyov	Attached TREK, a type of cosmic ray detector developed at the University of California, to the outside of Mir.^[2]
15 July 11:45	5 hours 56 minutes	17:41	Mir EO-9 Kvant-2	Anatoly Artsebarsky Sergei Krikalyov	Moved ladders and the base platform parts for the Sofora girder using the Strela boom from the airlock at Kvant-2 and installed them on Kvant-1.
19 July 11:10	5 hours 28 minutes	16:38	Mir EO-9 Kvant-2	Anatoly Artsebarsky Sergei Krikalyov	Started construction of the Sofora girder by installing three of 20 structural pieces.
23 July 09:15	5 hours 42 minutes	14:57	Mir EO-9 Kvant-2	Anatoly Artsebarsky Sergei Krikalyov	Continued the construction of the Sofora girder by installing eleven more of the 20 girder pieces.
27 July 08:44	6 hours 49 minutes	15:33	Mir EO-9 Kvant-2	Anatoly Artsebarsky Sergei Krikalyov	Completed assembly of the Sofora girder and mounted a small Russian flag on top of the structure. Artsebarsky had trouble with fogging on his visor, due to overexertion, but Krikalyov was able to lead him back to the airlock.

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References

Generic references:

Spaceflightportal

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. "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

1 2 "Space Shuttle Flight 39 (STS-37)". Space Shuttle Video Library. National Space Society. 2008. Archived from the original on 27 November 2008. Retrieved 27 February 2009.
↑ Price, P. B.; Lowder, D. M.; Westphal, A. J.; Wilkes, R. D.; Brennen, R. A.; Afanasyev, V. G.; Akimov, V. V.; Rodin, V. G.; Baryshnikov, G. K.; Gorshkov, L. A.; Shvets, N. I.; Tsigankov, O. S. (1992). "TREK: A cosmic-ray experiment on the Russian space station MIR". Astrophysics and Space Science. 197 (1): 121–143. Bibcode:1992Ap&SS.197..121P. doi:10.1007/BF00645077. S2CID 122308810.

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[sts-37-1] 1 2 "Space Shuttle Flight 39 (STS-37)". Space Shuttle Video Library. National Space Society. 2008. Archived from the original on 27 November 2008. Retrieved 27 February 2009.

[2] Price, P. B.; Lowder, D. M.; Westphal, A. J.; Wilkes, R. D.; Brennen, R. A.; Afanasyev, V. G.; Akimov, V. V.; Rodin, V. G.; Baryshnikov, G. K.; Gorshkov, L. A.; Shvets, N. I.; Tsigankov, O. S. (1992). "TREK: A cosmic-ray experiment on the Russian space station MIR". Astrophysics and Space Science. 197 (1): 121–143. Bibcode:1992Ap&SS.197..121P. doi:10.1007/BF00645077. S2CID 122308810.

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v t e Timeline of spaceflight
Spaceflight before 1951
1950s	1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
1960s	1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
1970s	1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980s	1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
1990s	1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
2000s	2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
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v t e Timeline of spaceflight
Spaceflight before 1951
1950s	1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
1960s	1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
1970s	1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980s	1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
1990s	1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
2000s	2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
2010s	2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
2020s	2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029

v t e ← 1990 · Orbital launches in 1991 · 1992 →
January	NATO 4A Progress M-6 Italsat 1, Eutelsat-2 F2 Kosmos 2121 Kosmos 2122 Informator No.1
February	Kosmos 2123 Kosmos 2124 Kosmos 2125, Kosmos 2126, Kosmos 2127, Kosmos 2128, Kosmos 2129, Kosmos 2130, Kosmos 2131, Kosmos 2132 Kosmos 2133 Kosmos 2134 Molniya 1-80 Kosmos 2135 Gran' No.38L
March	Astra 1B, Meteosat 5 Kosmos 2136 USA-69 Inmarsat-2 F2 Nadezhda No.409 Progress M-7 Kosmos 2137 Molniya-3 No.55 Kosmos 2138 Almaz 1
April	Kosmos 2139, Kosmos 2140, Kosmos 2141 Anik E2 STS-37 (Compton GRO) ASC-2 Kosmos 2142 BS-3h Meteor-3 No.6 STS-39 (IBSS/SPAS (CRO-A, CRO-B, CRO-C), USA-70)
May	NOAA-12 Kosmos 2143, Kosmos 2144 · Kosmos 2145, Kosmos 2146, Kosmos 2147, Kosmos 2148 Soyuz TM-12 Resurs-F2 No.6 Kosmos 2149 Satcom C5 Progress M-8
June	Okean-O1 No.6 STS-40 Kosmos 2150 Kosmos 2151 Molniya 1-81 Unnamed Resurs-F1 No.52 REX
July	Gorizont No.34L USA-71, Losat-X Kosmos 2152 Kosmos 2153 ERS-1, Orbcomm-X, SARA , Tubsat-A, UoSAT-5 Microsat 1, Microsat 2, Microsat 3, Microsat 4, Microsat 5, Microsat 6, Microsat 7 Resurs-F1 No.53
August	Molniya 1-82 STS-43 (TDRS-5) Intelsat VI F5 Meteor-3 No.5 Progress M-9 Resurs-F2 No.7 Kosmos 2154 Yuri 3b IRS-1B Yohkoh Unnamed
September	STS-48 (UARS) Kosmos 2155 Molniya-3 No.48 Kosmos 2156 Anik E1 Kosmos 2157, Kosmos 2158, Kosmos 2159, Kosmos 2160, Kosmos 2161, Kosmos 2162
October	Soyuz TM-13 Foton No.7L Kosmos 2163 Kosmos 2164 Progress M-10 Gorizont No.35L Intelsat VI F1
November	USA-72, USA-74, USA-76, USA-77 Kosmos 2165, Kosmos 2166, Kosmos 2167, Kosmos 2168, Kosmos 2169, Kosmos 2170 Kosmos 2171 Kosmos 2172 STS-44 (USA-75) Kosmos 2173 USA-73
December	Eutelsat-2 F3 Telecom 2A, Inmarsat-2 F3 Kosmos 2174 Interkosmos 25, Magion 3 Gran' No.39L Zhongxing-4
Launches are separated by dots ( •), payloads by commas ( , ), multiple names for the same satellite by slashes ( / ). Cubesats are smaller. Crewed flights are underlined. Launch failures are marked with the † sign. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are (enclosed in parentheses).