1978 saw the launch of the
Pioneer Venus
The Pioneer Venus project was part of the Pioneer program consisting of two spacecraft, the Pioneer Venus Orbiter and the Pioneer Venus Multiprobe, launched to Venus in 1978. The program was managed by NASA's Ames Research Center.
The Pio ...
missions launched by the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, on 20 May and 8 August. The
Pioneer Venus Multiprobe
The Pioneer Venus Multiprobe, also known as Pioneer Venus 2 or Pioneer 13, was a spacecraft launched in 1978 to explore Venus as part of NASA's Pioneer program. This part of the mission included a spacecraft bus which was launched from Earth car ...
landed four spacecraft on the planet, one of which transmitted data for 67 minutes before being destroyed by atmospheric pressure.
ISEE-C, which was launched on 8 December, flew past comet
21P/Giacobini–Zinner in 1985, and
Halley's Comet
Halley's Comet or Comet Halley, officially designated 1P/Halley, is a short-period comet visible from Earth every 75–79 years. Halley is the only known short-period comet that is regularly visible to the naked eye from Earth, and thus the o ...
in 1986.
[Hughes, J (1996) Larousse Desk Reference Encloypedia London RD Press]
Launches
Deep Space Rendezvous
EVAs
References
Footnotes
{{Orbital launches in 1978
Spaceflight by year