Chronology of Lunar and Planetary Exploration (1970 - 1979)

Mission Timeline


| 1957 - 1964
| 1965 - 1969
| 1970
|-- Luna 1970A - 6 February 1970 - Attempted Lunar Sample Return? (Launch Failure)
|-- Luna 1970B - 19 February 1970 - Attempted Lunar Orbiter? (Launch Failure)
|-- Apollo 13 - 11 April 1970 - Crewed Lunar Mission (Landing Aborted)
|-- Venera 7 - 17 August 1970 - Venus Lander
|-- Cosmos 359 - 22 August 1970 - Attempted Venus Probe
|-- Luna 16 - 12 September 1970 - Lunar Sample Return
|-- Zond 8 - 20 October 1970 - Lunar Flyby and Return to Earth
|-- Luna 17/Lunokhod 1 - 10 November 1970 - Lunar Rover
| 1971
|-- Apollo 14 - 31 January 1971 - Crewed Lunar Landing
|-- Mariner 8 - 8 May 1971 - Attempted Mars Flyby (Launch Failure)
|-- Cosmos 419 - 10 May 1971 - Attempted Mars Orbiter/Lander
|-- Mars 2 - 19 May 1971 - Mars Orbiter/ Attempted Lander
|-- Mars 3 - 28 May 1971 - Mars Orbiter/ Lander
|-- Mariner 9 - 30 May 1971 - Mars Orbiter
|-- Apollo 15 - 26 July 1971 - Crewed Lunar Landing
|-- Luna 18 - 2 September 1971 - Attempted Lunar Sample Return
|-- Luna 19 - 28 September 1971 - Lunar Orbiter
| 1972
|-- Luna 20 - 14 February 1972 - Lunar Sample Return
|-- Pioneer 10 - 3 March 1972 - Jupiter Flyby
|-- Venera 8 - 27 March 1972 - Venus Probe
|-- Cosmos 482 - 31 March 1972 - Attempted Venus Probe
|-- Apollo 16 - 16 April 1972 - Crewed Lunar Landing
|-- Soyuz L3 - 23 November 1972 - Attempted Lunar Orbiter (Launch Failure)
|-- Apollo 17 - 7 December 1972 - Crewed Lunar Landing
| 1973
|-- Luna 21/Lunokhod 2 - 8 January 1973 - Lunar Rover
|-- Pioneer 11 - 5 April 1973 - Jupiter/Saturn Flyby
|-- Skylab - 14 May 1973 - Crewed Earth Orbiter
|-- Explorer 49 (RAE-B) - 10 June 1973 - Lunar Orbiter/Radio Astronomy
|-- Mars 4 - 21 July 1973 - Mars Flyby (Attempted Mars Orbiter)
|-- Mars 5 - 25 July 1973 - Mars Orbiter
|-- Mars 6 - 5 August 1973 - Mars Lander (Contact Lost)
|-- Mars 7 - 9 August 1973 - Mars Flyby (Attempted Mars Lander)
|-- Mariner 10 - 4 November 1973 - Venus/Mercury Flybys
| 1974
|-- Luna 22 - 2 June 1974 - Lunar Orbiter
|-- Luna 23 - 28 October 1974 - Attempted Lunar Sample Return
| 1975
|-- Venera 9 - 8 June 1975 - Venus Orbiter and Lander
|-- Venera 10 - 14 June 1975 - Venus Orbiter and Lander
|-- Viking 1 - 20 August 1975 - Mars Orbiter and Lander
|-- Viking 2 - 9 September 1975 - Mars Orbiter and Lander
|-- Luna 1975A - 16 October 1975 - Attempted Lunar Sample Return?
| 1976
|-- Luna 24 - 9 August 1976 - Lunar Sample Return
| 1977
|-- Voyager 2 - 20 August 1977 - Jupiter/Saturn/Uranus/Neptune Flyby
|-- Voyager 1 - 5 September 1977 - Jupiter/Saturn Flyby
| 1978
|-- Pioneer Venus 1 - 20 May 1978 - Venus Orbiter
|-- Pioneer Venus 2 - 8 August 1978 - Venus Probes
|-- ISEE-3/ICE - 12 August 1978 - Comet Giacobini-Zinner and Halley Flybys
|-- Venera 11 - 9 September 1978 - Venus Orbiter and Lander
|-- Venera 12 - 14 September 1978 - Venus Orbiter and Lander
| 1979
| 1980 - Present
| Future Missions

Other Missions

If you don't see a mission listed here, you may wish to query the NSSDC Master Catalog by typing in a name in the space below.

Spacecraft Name:

[NASA Logo]
Author/Curator:
Dr. David R. Williams, dave.williams@nasa.gov
NSSDC, Mail Code 690.1
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, MD 20771
+1-301-286-1258

NASA Official: Ed Grayzeck, edwin.j.grayzeck@nasa.gov
Last Updated: 20 November 2007, DRW