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1 January - N1-L3M - The first lunar expedition project, the N1-L3M, was studied in 1973....
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8 January - Luna 21 - The Proton / Block D launcher put the spacecraft into Earth parking orbit followed by translunar injection. On 12 January 1973, Luna 21 braked into a 90 x 100 km orbit about the Moon. On 13 and 14 January, the perilune was lowered to 16 km altitude. ...
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19 January - Plan for storage of unassigned Saturn hardware and phaseout of Saturn V. - MSFC began implementation of a plan for preparation and storage of unassigned Saturn hardware, phaseout of the Saturn V production capability, and amendment of the facility operations contract at the Michoud Assembly Facility for minimum surveillance...
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26 January - Ames requested six R4D rocket engines surplus to the Apollo program for Pioneer-Venus - Ames Research Center requested that six R4D rocket engines designed for use in the Apollo program be transferred from MSC to Ames. Possibly the engines would be suitable for the retro-injection function in the Pioneer Venus series of atmospheric prob...
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17 February - The Manned Spacecraft Center renamed the Lyndon B Johnson Space Center. - The Manned Spacecraft Center was renamed the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center by Public Law 93-8. The late President's interest and support of the space program began while he was Chairman of the Senate Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences and ...
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6 March - Apollo Spacecraft Program Office reorganized - The Apollo Spacecraft Program Office, with Glynn S. Lunney as Manager, was reorganized. Lunney was also Manager for ASTP (Apollo/Soyuz Test Project), an assignment to which he had been appointed in June of 1972....
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15 March - Post-Apollo Lunar Programs Office established - A Lunar Programs Office, under which the Lunar Data Analysis and Synthesis Program would be conducted, was established in the Office of Space Science, NASA Hq. The office was responsible for continued operation and collection of data from the Apollo ...
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3 April - Salyut 2 - The first flight of the Almaz manned military space station. In January 1973 the first Almaz OPS was delivered to Baikonur. Launch and initial orbital checkout went according to plan. But before a crew could be launched the station depressurized. It...
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11 May - Cosmos 557 - Salyut failure. Unsuccessful mission. Salyut out of control. Decayed May 22, 1973. Was to have been manned by initial crew of Leonov and Kubasov. Last chance to upstage Skylab, launched three days later....
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14 May - Skylab 1 - First and only US space station to date. Project began life as Apollo Orbital Workshop - outfitting of an S-IVB stage with docking adapter with equipment launched by several subsequent S-1B launches. Curtailment of the Apollo moon landings meant that...
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25 May - Skylab 2 - Epic repair mission which brought Skylab into working order. Included such great moments as Conrad being flung through space by the whiplash after heaving on the solar wing just as the debris constraining it gave way; deployment of a lightweight sola...
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21 July - Mars 4 - Failed; did not enter Martian orbit as planned; intended to be a Mars orbiter mission. Mars 4 reached Mars on 10 February 1974. Due to use of helium in preflight tests of the computer chips, which resulted in degradation of the chips during the voyag...
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25 July - Mars 5 - Mars probe intended to enter Martian orbit and comprehensively photograph Mars. Parameters are for Mars orbit. Mars 5 reached Mars on 12 February 1974 and was inserted into a 1760 km x 32,586 km orbit. Due to computer chip failures the orbiter operat...
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28 July - Skylab 3 - Continued maintenance of the Skylab space station and extensive scientific and medical experiments. Installed twinpole solar shield on EVA; performed major inflight maintenance; doubled record for length of time in space. Completed 858 Earth orbits a...
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5 August - Mars 6 - Mars probe intended to make a soft landing on Mars. Total fueled launch mass of the lander and orbital bus was 3260 kg. It reached Mars on 12 March 1974, separated from the bus, and entered the atmosphere, where a parachute opened, slowing the descen...
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7 August - NASM established a complete library of Apollo lunar photos - National Air and Space Museum Director Michael Collins advised JSC that NASM had established a center for research and study with responsibility for a complete library of lunar photos to document scientific results of the Apollo missions. The library...
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9 August - Mars 7 - Mars probe intended to make a soft landing on Mars. Mars 7 reached Mars on 9 March 1974. Due to a problem in the operation of one of the onboard systems (attitude control or retro-rockets) the landing probe separated prematurely and missed the planet...
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27 August - Actions for the final phaseout of the Apollo program - Apollo Soyuz Test Project Program Director Chester M. Lee, Office of Manned Space Flight, NASA Hq., was assigned as the management official to take actions necessary for the final phaseout of the Apollo program. All Apollo program inquiries, activiti...
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30 August - NASA plans release, disposition, and storage of all unneeded Skylab Program equipment. - Guidelines were issued by NASA Hq for release, disposition, and storage of all unneeded Skylab Program equipment. Two Saturn Vs, two Saturn IBs, three command and service modules, the backup Skylab cluster, and appropriate spares would be placed in m...
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16 November - Skylab 4 - Final Skylab mission; included observation and photography of Comet Kohoutek among numerous experiments. Completed 1,214 Earth orbits and four EVAs totalling 22 hours, 13 minutes. Increased manned space flight time record by 50%. Rebellion by crew ag...
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