1970 in spaceflight 1970 in spaceflight Japan and China each launched their first satellites in 1970, bringing the total number of nations with independent launch capability to five. Apollo 13 was launched; after suffering an explosion in deep space it had to circumnavigate the moon and use the LM as a life boat. Apollo 13 was a successful disaster in which the crew survived. The Soviet space program continued its Luna program with Luna 17, which delivered the robotic Lunokhod 1 rover to the lunar surface, and Luna 16, which achieved the first unmanned lunar sample return. The Soviets also continued the success
Apollo 8 "From the Earth to the Moon" episode "1968". The S-IVB stage of Apollo 8 was also portrayed as the location of an alien device in the 1970 "UFO" episode "Conflict". Apollo 8's Lunar Orbit Insertion One was chronicled with actual recordings in the song "The Other Side", on the album "The Race for Space", by the band Public Service Broadcasting. Apollo 8 Apollo 8, the second manned spaceflight mission in the United States Apollo space program, was launched on December 21, 1968, and became the first manned spacecraft to leave low Earth orbit, reach the Moon, orbit it, and safely