2012 in spaceflight
Introduction The year '''2012''' saw a number of significant events in spaceflight. In May and October, the first Commercial Orbital Transportation Services resupply missions took place, during which the SpaceX Dragon became the first private spacecraft to dock with the International Space Station (ISS). In June, China launched the crewed Shenzhou 9 orbital mission, and North Korea achieved its first successful orbital launch in December. 2012 also saw China's first successful asteroid exploration mission, and the landing of NASA's ''Curiosity'' rover on Mars. The Vega and Unha-3 rockets made their maiden flights in 2012, while the Proton-K made its last.A total of 77 orbital launches were attempted in 2012, of which 72 were successful, three were partially successful and two were failures. Five crewed orbital missions were conducted over the course of the year, all successfully, carrying a total of 15 individuals into orbit. The year also saw five EVAs by ISS astronauts. The majority of the year's orbital launches were conducted by Russia, China and the United States, with 29, 19 and 13 launches respectively. A total of 139 payloads were launched during the year, including communication and navigation satellites, logistics spacecraft and scientific probes. Additionally, a large number of suborbital sounding rockets and ballistic missiles were launched by scientific and military organisations.
Overview of orbital spaceflight A total of 77 orbital launches were attempted in 2012, with 72 being reported as successful, and a total of 139 payloads launched. The three most prolific spacefaring nations were Russia, with 29 launches and 27 successes; China, with 19 launches, all of which succeeded; and the United States, with 13 launches, of which 12 succeeded and one was a partial failure. European nations conducted eight orbital launches, all successfully, while India and Japan conducted two each, also successfully. Iran and North Korea both achieved one successful orbital launch during 2012, but Iran also suffered one launch failures, while North Korea suffered one.===Crewed spaceflight===Five crewed orbital launches were conducted during 2012, all successfully, carrying a total of 15 astronauts into orbit. Four of these missions were flown using Russian Soyuz spacecraft, while the fifth was a Chinese Shenzhou launch. All of the year's crewed missions rendezvoused with space stations – the four Soyuz missions docked with the International Space Station (ISS), while China's Shenzhou 9 docked with the Tiangong-1 orbital laboratory. Five spacewalks were also undertaken in 2012, all by ISS crewmembers.===Robotic exploration===Numerous significant milestones in robotic spaceflight occurred in 2012, including the landing of NASA's ''Curiosity'' rover on Mars in August, and the first commercial resupply missions to the ISS in May and October. The latter also marked the first fully operational use of SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft. Elsewhere in the Solar System, NASA's ''Dawn'' spacecraft completed its mission to 4 Vesta in September 2012, while China achieved its first asteroid flyby in December.
Orbital launches ===January=== ===February=== ===March=== ===April=== ===May=== ===June=== ===July=== ===August=== ===September=== ===October=== ===November=== ===December===
Suborbital flights
Deep space rendezvous Date (UTC)SpacecraftEventRemarks1 JanuaryGRAIL-BLunar orbit insertionJoined its twin, GRAIL-A, which entered lunar orbit on 31 December 2011.2 JanuaryCassini80th flyby of TitanClosest approach: .30 JanuaryCassini81st flyby of TitanClosest approach: .19 FebruaryCassini82nd flyby of TitanClosest approach: .9 MarchCassiniFlyby of EnceladusClosest approach: .27 MarchCassini17th flyby of EnceladusClosest approach: .14 AprilCassini18th flyby of EnceladusFlyby of TethysClosest approach to Enceladus: .Closest approach to Tethys: .2 MayCassini20th flyby of EnceladusFlyby of DioneClosest approach to Enceladus: .Closest approach to Dione: .20 MayCassiniFlyby of MethoneFlyby of TelestoClosest approach to Methone: .Closest approach to Telesto: .21 MayCassini83rd flyby of TitanClosest approach: .6 JuneCassini84th flyby of TitanClosest approach: .24 JulyCassini85th flyby of TitanClosest approach: .6 August''Curiosity''Landing on Mars in Gale CraterUsed the Sky Crane soft landing system. Successful landing at 05:14 UTC at coordinates .5 September''Dawn''Leaving Vestiocentric orbitHeaded for Ceres, which it reached on 6 March 2015.26 SeptemberCassini86th flyby of TitanClosest approach: .13 NovemberCassini87th flyby of TitanClosest approach: .29 NovemberCassini88th flyby of TitanClosest approach to Titan: .13 DecemberChang'e 2Flyby of 4179 ToutatisFirst Chinese asteroid flyby. Closest approach to 4179 Toutatis: less than  (770 metres).17 DecemberGRAILLunar impact at "Sally K. Ride" siteBoth GRAIL satellites concluded their mission by impacting the Moon's surface.22 DecemberCassiniDistant flyby of TitanFlyby of RheaClosest approach to Titan: .Closest approach to Rhea: .
EVAs Start Date/TimeDurationEnd TimeSpacecraftCrewRemarks16 February14:316 hours15 minutes20:46Expedition 29/30ISS ''Pirs'' Oleg Kononenko Anton ShkaplerovMoved Strela 1 crane from ISS ''Pirs'' module to ''Poisk'' module, installed four materials experiments on the exterior of the ISS, and installed supporting struts on the EVA ladder on ''Pirs''.20 August16:375 hours51 minutes22:28Expedition 31/32ISS ''Pirs'' Gennady Padalka Yuri MalenchenkoRelocated Strela 2 telescoping boom from ''Pirs'' docking compartment to ''Zarya'' control module, in preparation for undocking of ''Pirs'', which will pave the way for arrival of the Russian Multipurpose Laboratory Module in 2013.Also installed micrometeoroid debris shields on ''Zvezda'' service module, retrieved two experiments from ''Pirs'' exterior, installed two support struts for hatch ladder and deployed two small tracking satellites.30 August12:168 hours17 minutes20:33Expedition 31/32ISS ''Quest'' Sunita Williams Akihiko HoshideConnected two power cables between the US and Russian orbital segments; removed and replaced Main Bus Switching Unit (MBSU) 1.The crew had difficulty in removing connecting bolts of the old MBSU, and were unable to tighten up the bolts for the new unit. The new MBSU was tied down for future trouble-shooting, with all other tasks deferred to a future EVA. Third-longest EVA in history.5 September11:066 hours28 minutes17:34Expedition 31/32ISS ''Quest'' Sunita Williams Akihiko HoshideInstalled the new MBSU unit, working around difficulty with one of the bolts; replaced one of the cameras mounted on the Canadarm2.During this spacewalk, Sunita Williams broke Peggy Whitson's 2007 record for most total time spacewalking by a woman.1 November12:296 hours38 minutes19:07Expedition 32/33ISS ''Quest'' Sunita Williams Akihiko HoshideReconfigured and isolated a leak in the ammonia cooling system of power channel 2B on the P6 truss by bypassing a leaking cooling loop and re-connecting jumpers to an unused loop of the Early External Thermal Control System (EETCS), and by redeploying the trailing Thermal Control Radiator of the system.
Orbital launch statistics ===By country===For the purposes of this section, the yearly tally of orbital launches by country assigns each flight to the country of '''origin of the rocket''', not to the launch services provider or the spaceport. For example, Soyuz launches by Arianespace in Kourou are counted under Russia because Soyuz-2 is a Russian rocket. Country Launches Successes Failures Partialfailures Remarks           19  19   0   0            8   8   0   0      2   2   0   0       2   1   1   0           2   2   0   0         2   1   1   0  First successful orbital launch         26  24   1   1  Includes two European Soyuz launches from Kourou, French Guiana by Arianespace         3   3   0   0  Includes three Zenit from Sea Launch          13  12   0   1  World   77  72   3   2 ===By rocket=======By family==== Family Country Launches Successes Failures Partial failures RemarksAriane        7  7  0  0 Atlas          6  6  0  0 Delta          4  4  0  0 Falcon        2  1  0  1  8 October rocket failure only affected one of two payloadsH-II            2  2  0  0 Long March         19  19  0  0 Pegasus               1   1  0  0 PSLV     2   2  0  0 R-7              14  14  0  0 Safir                  2   1  1  0 Unha                                  2   1  1  0  First successful launchUniversal Rocket                     12  10  1  1 Vega                    1   1  0  0  Maiden flightZenit          3  3  0  0 ====By type==== Rocket Country Family Launches Successes Failures Partial failures RemarksAriane 5      Ariane   7   7  0  0 Atlas V       Atlas    6   6  0  0 Delta IV      Delta    4   4  0  0 Falcon 9      Falcon   2   1  0  1  Failure only affected one of two payloadsH-IIA         H-II    1  1  0  0 H-IIB         H-II    1  1  0  0 Long March 2              Long March        6  6  0  0 Long March 3              Long March        9  9  0  0 Long March 4              Long March        4  4  0  0 Pegasus    Pegasus   1   1  0  0 PSLV                    PSLV              2  2  0  0 Proton                          Universal Rocket   11   9  1  1 Safir                          Safir               2   1  1  0 Soyuz                          R-7         10  10   0   0 Soyuz-2                             R-7          4   4   0   0 Unha                                   Unha       2   1  1  0  First successful launchUR-100         Universal Rocket  1  1  0  0 Vega                           Vega       1   1  0  0  Maiden flightZenit     Zenit    3  3  0  0 ====By configuration==== Rocket Country Type Launches Successes Failures Partial failures RemarksAriane 5 ECA      Ariane 5  6  6  0  0 Ariane 5 ES       Ariane 5  1  1  0  0 Atlas V 401        Atlas V   3   3  0  0 Atlas V 501        Atlas V   1   1  0  0 Atlas V 531        Atlas V   1   1  0  0 Atlas V 551       Atlas V   1   1  0  0 Delta IV Medium+ (4,2)    Delta IV  1  1  0  0 Delta IV Medium+ (5,2)    Delta IV  1  1  0  0  Maiden flightDelta IV Medium+ (5,4)    Delta IV  1  1  0  0 Delta IV Heavy    Delta IV  1  1  0  0 Falcon 9 v1.0    Falcon 9  2  1  0  1  Failure only affected one of two payloadsH-IIA 202               H-IIA  1  1  0  0  H-IIB                  H-IIB  1  1  0  0 Long March 2C                                           Long March 2  2  2  0  0 Long March 2D                                           Long March 2  3  3  0  0 Long March 2F                                           Long March 2  1  1  0  0 Long March 3A                                           Long March 3  1  1  0  0 Long March 3B                                           Long March 3  1  1  0  0  Final flightLong March 3B/E           Long March 3  4  4  0  0 Long March 3C                                           Long March 3  3  3  0  0  Final flightLong March 4B                                           Long March 4  2  2  0  0 Long March 4C                                           Long March 4  2  2  0  0 Pegasus XL                             Pegasus        1   1  0  0 PSLV-CA          PSLV          1  1  0  0 PSLV-XL          PSLV          1  1  0  0 Proton-K / Block DM-2               Proton        1  1  0  0  Final flightProton-M / Briz-M        Proton        10  8  1  1 Rokot / Briz-KM       UR-100        1  1  0  0 Safir-1B                                 Safir          2   1  1  0 Soyuz-2.1a / Fregat-M                  Soyuz-2       2  2  0  0 Soyuz ST-A / Fregat              Soyuz-2        1   1   0   0 Soyuz ST-B / Fregat-MT                  Soyuz-2       1  1  0  0 Soyuz-FG                                                Soyuz         4  4  0  0 Soyuz-FG / Fregat                                     Soyuz         1  1  0  0 Soyuz-U                                                 Soyuz         5  5  0  0 Unha-3                                                  Unha           2   1  1  0  Maiden flightVega                                      Vega           1   1  0  0  Maiden flightZenit-3SL                                               Zenit  3  3  0  0 === By spaceport === Site Country Launches Successes Failures Partial failures RemarksBaikonur                        21  19  1  1 Cape Canaveral     10   9  0  1 Kourou                          10  10  0  0 Jiuquan              5   5  0  0 Kwajalein                    1   1  0  0 Ocean Odyssey         International waters   3   3  0  0 Plesetsk                         3   3  0  0 Satish Dhawan             2   2  0  0 Semnan                           2   1  1  0 Sohae              2   1  1  0 Tanegashima                 2   2  0  0 Taiyuan              5   5  0  0 Vandenberg                 2   2  0  0 Xichang              9   9  0  0 Total                                                                        77  72  3  2 ===By orbit=== Orbital regime Launches  Failures Accidentallyachieved RemarksTransatmospheric                                                                           0   0  0  0 Low Earth                                                             39  37  2  0 12 to ISS, 1 to Tiangong-1  Medium Earth / Molniya                           5   5  0  1   Geosynchronous / GTO          32  31  1  0  High Earth / Lunar transfer                1   1  0  0  Heliocentric / Planetary transfer       0   0  0  0 Total                                                                                                77  74  3  1
See also * 2012 in science* List of human spaceflights, 2011–2020* Timeline of spaceflight
References ===Footnotes===
External links * * *