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(Top) 1 Launches 2 Launches from the Moon 3 Deep space rendezvous in 1972 4 References 4.1 Footnotes

1972 in spaceflight

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1972 in spaceflight
The final Apollo mission to the Moon
v t e

1972 saw humanity's last crewed mission to the Moon of the 20th century, Apollo 17.

Timeline of spaceflight

Spaceflight before 1951

1950s

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1970s

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Launches[edit]

This is a list of spaceflights launched in 1972.

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (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 4 F-4	Intelsat	Geosynchronous	Comsat	Still in orbit	Successful
January 31 17:20 GMT	Thor Delta L	SLC-2E, Vandenberg AFB		HEOS 2	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	HeliocentrictoSolar 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	Thor Burner II	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" 3astronauts	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	Thorad Agena-D SLV-2H	SLC-3W, Vandenberg AFB	US Air Force	KH-4B 1116	US Air Force	LEO	Surveillance satellite	May 12, 1972
May 25 18:41 GMT	Thorad Agena-D SLV-2H	SLC-3W, Vandenberg AFB	US Air Force	KH-4B 1117	US Air Force	LEO	Surveillance satellite	June 4, 1972	Successful	Final flight of Thorad Agena-D SLV-2H
June 13 21:53 GMT	Atlas SLV-3C Centaur	LC-36B, Cape Canaveral		Intelsat 4 F-5	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		OAO 3	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	BMRS-A1, Vandenberg AFB	US Air Force	OPS 8180 (RADCAT)	US Air Force	LEO	Technology research	2 August 2012	Successful
October 2 20:09 GMT	Atlas F	BMRS-A1, Vandenberg AFB	US Air Force	Radsat	US Air Force	LEO	Technology research	Still in orbit	Successful
October 15 17:19 GMT	Delta 0100 (0300)	SLC-2W, Vandenberg AFB		NOAA 2 (ITOS-B)	NOAA	LEO	Weather satellite	Still in orbit	Successful
October 15 17:19 GMT	Delta 0100 (0300)	SLC-2W, Vandenberg AFB		Amsat-Oscar 6	Amsat	LEO	Amateur comsat	Still in orbit	Successful
November 9 03:23 GMT	Thor Burner II	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" 3astronauts	NASA	Lunar	Crewed Lunar orbiter	December 19, 1971	Successful	Final Moonshot Final flight of Saturn V
December 7 05:33 GMT	Saturn V	LC-39A, Kennedy	NASA	Apollo 17 lunar module "Challenger"	NASA	Lunar	Crewed Lunar landing	December 14, 1971 GMT (at Moon)	Successful	Final Moonshot Final flight of Saturn V
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 CenteratVandenberg AFB	NASA	Aeros 1	NASA				Successful
December 20 22:20 GMT	Atlas-Agena SLV-3A	LC-13, Cape Canaveral	US Air Force	OPS 9390 Canyon 5	US Air Force	Geosynchronous	Military Comsat	Still in orbit	Successful

Launches from the Moon[edit]


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			Terra Apollonius (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[edit]

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[edit]

Bergin, Chris. "NASASpaceFlight.com".

Clark, Stephen. "Spaceflight Now".

Kelso, T.S. "Satellite Catalog (SATCAT)". CelesTrak.^{[dead link]}

Krebs, Gunter. "Chronology of Space Launches".

Kyle, Ed. "Space Launch Report". Archived from the original on 2009-10-05. Retrieved 2022-08-13.

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.

"Space Calendar". NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.^{[dead link]}

"Space Information Center". JAXA.^{[dead link]}

"Хроника освоения космоса" [Chronicle of space exploration]. CosmoWorld (in Russian).

Generic references:

Spaceflight portal

Footnotes[edit]

This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please help improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (March 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Timeline of spaceflight

Spaceflight before 1951

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

Future

← 1971

Orbital launches in 1972

1973 →

Payloads are separated by bullets ( · ), launches by pipes ( | ). Crewed flights are indicated in underline. Uncatalogued launch failures are listed in italics. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are denoted in (brackets).

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