 The crew of Apollo 8 were the first humans to witness Earthrise, photographed by William Anders on 24 December 1968 | |
| Orbital launches | |
|---|---|
| Total | 6 |
The United States National Space Science Data Center catalogued 157 spacecraft placed into orbit by launches which occurred in 1968.[1] The first crewed Apollo missions occurred in 1968. It was also the year in which Earth lifeforms first left low Earth orbit, during the successful Zond 5 mission, and the year that humans first left low Earth orbit, during the successful Apollo 8 mission.
Launches
- Key
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January
| Date and time (UTC) | Rocket | Flight number | Launch site | LSP | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Payload | Operator | Orbit | Function | Decay (UTC) | Outcome | ||
| Remarks | |||||||
| 22 January 23:45 |
 Saturn IB (C-1B) |
LC-37B, Cape Canaveral |
NASA | ||||
| Apollo 5 | NASA | LEO | Test Lunar Module | 12 February 1968 09:59 | successful | ||
| Minor malfunction of LM descent stage engine, otherwise successful | |||||||
April
| Date and time (UTC) | Rocket | Flight number | Launch site | LSP | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Payload | Operator | Orbit | Function | Decay (UTC) | Outcome | ||
| Remarks | |||||||
| 4 April 12:00:02 |
Saturn V (C-5) |
LC-39A, Kennedy |
NASA | ||||
| Apollo 6 | NASA | LEO | Test CSM heat shield at Lunar return speeds. Test S-IVB re-ignition in LEO. | 4 April 1968 21:57:26 | Partial failure | ||
| Experienced Pogo oscillation during S-IC first stage ascent. S-IVB failed restart test. | |||||||
June
| Date and time (UTC) | Rocket | Flight number | Launch site | LSP | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Payload | Operator | Orbit | Function | Decay (UTC) | Outcome | ||
| Remarks | |||||||
| 13 June 14:03:00 |
Titan IIIC |
LC-41, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station |
USAF | ||||
| OPS-9341 | USAF | Sub-GSO | Part of the Initial Defense Communications Satellite Program | In orbit | Success | ||
| OPS-9342 | USAF | Sub-GSO | Part of the Initial Defense Communications Satellite Program | In orbit | Success | ||
| OPS-9343 | USAF | Sub-GSO | Part of the Initial Defense Communications Satellite Program | In orbit | Success | ||
| OPS-9344 | USAF | Sub-GSO | Part of the Initial Defense Communications Satellite Program | In orbit | Success | ||
| OPS-9345 | USAF | Sub-GSO | Part of the Initial Defense Communications Satellite Program | In orbit | Success | ||
| OPS-9346 | USAF | Sub-GSO | Part of the Initial Defense Communications Satellite Program | In orbit | Success | ||
| OPS-9347 | USAF | Sub-GSO | Part of the Initial Defense Communications Satellite Program | In orbit | Success | ||
| OPS-9348 | USAF | Sub-GSO | Part of the Initial Defense Communications Satellite Program | In orbit | Success | ||
October
| Date and time (UTC) | Rocket | Flight number | Launch site | LSP | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Payload | Operator | Orbit | Function | Decay (UTC) | Outcome | ||
| Remarks | |||||||
| 11 October 1968 15:02 |
Saturn IB (C-1B) |
LC-34, Cape Canaveral |
NASA | ||||
| Apollo 7 | NASA | LEO | Crewed orbital flight | 22 October 1968 11:11:48 | Successful | ||
| First crewed Apollo flight | |||||||
| 25 October 1968 09:00 |
 Soyuz (R-7/A-2) |
LC-1/5, Baikonur |
RVSN | ||||
| Soyuz 2 | RVSN | LEO | Docking target for Soyuz 3 | 28 October 1968 07:21 | Successful | ||
| Soyuz 3 failed to dock | |||||||
| 26 October 08:34 |
Soyuz (R-7/A-2) |
LC-31/6 Baikonur |
RVSN | ||||
| Soyuz 3 | RVSN | LEO | Crewed orbital flight | 30 October 1968 07:25:03 | Partial Failure | ||
| Failed to dock with Soyuz 2 | |||||||
December
| Date and time (UTC) | Rocket | Flight number | Launch site | LSP | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Payload | Operator | Orbit | Function | Decay (UTC) | Outcome | ||
| Remarks | |||||||
| 21 December 12:51 |
Saturn V (C-5) |
LC-39A, Kennedy |
NASA | ||||
| Apollo 8 | NASA | Selenocentric | Crewed lunar orbiter | 27 December 1968 15:51:42 | Successful | ||
| First crewed mission to the Moon | |||||||
Deep space rendezvous
| Date (UTC) | Spacecraft | Event | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 January | Surveyor 7 | Lunar landing | in the debris from Tycho crater |
| 31 January | Lunar Orbiter 5 | Lunar impact | |
| 10 April | Luna 14 | Selenocentric orbit insertion | |
| 18 September | Zond 5 | Flyby of the Moon; first return to Earth after flight to Moon; first Earth life forms to travel around the Moon | Closest approach: 1,950 kilometres (1,210 mi) |
| 14 November | Zond 6 | Flyby of the Moon | Closest approach: 2,420 kilometres (1,500 mi) |
| 24 December | Apollo 8 | Selenocentric orbit insertion; first humans to travel around the Moon | |
| 25 December | Apollo 8 | Leaves selenocentric orbit | Completed 10 orbits |
Orbital Launch Summary
References
- ↑ "Spacecraft Query Results". Master Catalog Search. NASA NSSDC. Archived from the original on 2 March 2012. Retrieved 30 May 2010.
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