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1973 in spaceflight
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| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| year | 1973 |
| first | 8 January |
| last | 29 December |
1973 saw the launch of the first American Space station known as Skylab on a Saturn V rocket.
Launches
January
|- |d-date = 15 January 1973 (At Moon) |d-date = 24 January 1973 |d-date = 15 June 1980 |d-date = 31 July 1973
February
|- |d-date = 13 February 1973 |d-date = 23 October 1977 |d-date = 21 February 1973 |d-date = 31 December 1976 |d-date = 29 June 1980
March
|- |d-date = 11 March 1973 |d-date = 20 March 1973 |d-date = 17 March 1973 |d-date = 3 April 1973 |d-date = 9 April 1973
April
|- |d-date = 28 May 1973 |d-date = 6 January 1979 Maiden flight of Atlas SLV-3D Centaur rocket. |d-date = 11 November 1973 |d-date = 7 May 1973 |d-date = 25 April 1973 |d-date = 7 May 1973 |d-date = 9 May 1973
May
|- |d-date = 14 May 1973 |d-date = 22 May 1973
Last flight of the Saturn V rocket Damaged during launch, but repaired |d-date = 11 July 1979 |d-date = 13 June 1973 |d-date = 22 December 1973 |d-date = 23 May 1973 Fairing failed to separate |d-date = 21 May 1973 |d-date = 5 June 1973 |d-date =22 May |d-time = |d-span = |o-span = |d-date = 25 May 1973 |d-date = 22 June 1973 |d-date = 6 June 1973 |d-date = 20 June 1973
June
|- |d-date = 7 January 1974 |d-date = 18 June 1973 |d-date = 23 June 1973 |d-date = 17 June 1973 |d-time = 06:01 |d-date = 3 July 1973 |d-date = Never left ground |d-date = 26 June 1973 |d-date = 9 July 1973
July
|- |d-date = 4 July 1973 |d-date = 5 August 1978 |d-date = 12 October 1973 |d-date = 16 July 1973 Actual: Heliocentric |d-date = 7 August 1973 |d-date = 25 September 1973
August
|- |d-date = 13 August 1973 |d-date = 12 March 1974 |d-date = 3 September 1973 |d-date = 1 April 1974 |d-date = 6 September 1973 |d-date = 5 September 1980 |d-date = 5 December 1979 |d-date = 12 September 1973
September
|- |d-date = 20 September 1973 |d-date = 18 September |d-date = 4 October 1973 |d-date = 29 September 1973 |d-date = 29 October 1973
October
|- |d-date = 9 October 1973 |d-date = 9 October 1973 |d-date = 12 October 1973 |d-date = 16 October 1973 |d-date = 28 October 1973 |d-date = 23 October 1973 |d-date = 15 August 1984 |d-date = 8 July 1983 |d-date = 29 October 1973 |d-date = 9 November 1973 |d-date = 19 January 1992 |d-date = 1 July 1977 |d-date = 22 November 1973
November
|- First spacecraft to visit Mercury |d-date = 24 March 1975 |d-date = 22 November 1973 |d-date = 13 March 1974 |d-date = 26 December 1978 |d-date = 26 May 1979 |d-date = 8 February 1974 |d-date = 10 July 1974 |d-date = 4 December 1973 |d-date = 15 September 1980 |d-date = 19 June 1974 |d-date = 11 December 1973 |d-date = 29 January 1974 |d-time = 05:29 |d-date = 9 June 1985
December
|- |d-date = 17 December 1975 |d-date = 1 August 1982 |d-date = 20 December 1993 |d-date = 12 December 1978 |d-date = 28 December 1973 |d-date = 26 December 1973 |d-date = 3 January 1974 |d-date = 24 November 1985 |d-date = 30 April 1974 |d-date = 22 March 1974 |}
Deep Space Rendezvous
| Date (GMT) | Spacecraft | Event | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 January | Luna 21 | Delivered Lunokhod 2 between Mare Serenitatis and the Taurus Mountains | |
| 15 June | Explorer 49 | Entered Selenocentric orbit | Radio telescope |
| 3 December | Pioneer 10 | Flyby of Jupiter | Closest approach: 130354 km |
EVAs
| Start date/time | Duration | End time | Spacecraft | Crew | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 May | |||||
| 00:40 | 40 minutes | 01:20 | CM-116 | ||
| SLM-1 | USAPaul J. Weitz | Using a 10 ft long tool, Weitz stood in the open hatch of the Command Module (as Joe Kerwin held onto his legs) and tried to remove a strap preventing the release of a solar panel on Skylab. | |||
| 7 June | |||||
| 15:15 | 3 hours | ||||
| 25 minutes | 18:40 | Skylab | |||
| SLM-1 | USAPete Conrad | ||||
| USAJoseph P. Kerwin | Used long-handled cable cutters to remove debris that prevented the solar array system from deploying and then forced the solar array system to deploy, providing the Skylab with electrical power needed to operate. | ||||
| 19 June | |||||
| 10:55 | 1 hour | ||||
| 36 minutes | 12:31 | Skylab | |||
| SLM-1 | USAPete Conrad | ||||
| USAPaul J. Weitz | Replaced exposed film cassettes with fresh film and repaired an electrical contact. | ||||
| 6 August | |||||
| 17:30 | 6 hours | ||||
| 31 minutes | 7 August | ||||
| 00:01 | Skylab | ||||
| SLM-2 | USAOwen K. Garriott | ||||
| USAJack R. Lousma | Erected a twin-pole solar shield to improve temperature control in Skylab, replaced film cassettes in the solar observatory and installed micrometeoroid detection panels. | ||||
| 24 August | |||||
| 16:24 | 4 hours | ||||
| 31 minutes | 20:55 | Skylab | |||
| SLM-2 | USAOwen K. Garriott | ||||
| USAJack R. Lousma | Installed a new gyroscope selection box, and replaced the film in the solar observatory. | ||||
| nowrap | 22 September | ||||
| 11:18 | 2 hours | ||||
| 41 minutes | 13:59 | Skylab | |||
| SLM-2 | USAOwen K. Garriott | ||||
| USAAlan Bean | Replaced the film on the solar observatory and collected the Thermal Coatings Experiment Panel for return to Earth. | ||||
| 22 November | |||||
| 17:42 | 6 hours | ||||
| 33 minutes | 23 November | ||||
| 00:15 | Skylab | ||||
| SLM-3 | USAEdward Gibson | ||||
| USAWilliam R. Pogue | Replaced the film on the solar observatory and repaired the antenna for the Earth resources experiment package. | ||||
| 25 December | |||||
| 16:00 | 7 hours | ||||
| 1 minute | 23:01 | Skylab | |||
| SLM-3 | USAGerald P. Carr | ||||
| USAWilliam R. Pogue | Used the extreme ultraviolet electronographic camera and the coronagraph contamination camera to photograph Comet Kohoutek. They also replaced the film on the solar observatory. | ||||
| 29 December | |||||
| 17:00 | 3 hours | ||||
| 29 minutes | 20:29 | Skylab | |||
| SLM-3 | USAGerald P. Carr | ||||
| USAEdward Gibson | Photographed Comet Kohoutek as it appeared from behind the Sun and recovered the Thermal Control Coatings Experiment panel. |
References
Footnotes
References
- Wade, Mark. "K63D".
- Krebs, Gunter Dirk. "BOR-3".
- Belew, Leland F.. (1977). "Skylab, Our First Space Station". NASA.
- Ledbetter, James. (1974). "Skylab Crew Systems Mission Evaluation". NASA.
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