October 1978
Skylab is reactivated temporarily. ESA starts studies of an advanced Ariane booster.
November-December 1978
Alexei Kosygin announces the formation of the Slavic Compact,an economic adjunct to the Warsaw Pact that will regulate the Soviet economy and allow for limited privatization. In midterm elections,the Democrats sweep the Senate. First launch of Ariane 1 on November 19. In December,the Pioneer Venus and Venera 11/12 probes arrive at Venus. An engine error prevents Venera 11 from attaining Venusian orbit,but Venera 12 enters orbit. Their respective landers transmit Venusian atmospheric,weather and surface data. Progress 3 is dispatched to Salyut 6 on December 21.
January-Februrary 1979
The third Salyut 6 expedition,with cosmonauts Vladimir Kovalenok and Gennady Strekalov. The first production External Tank reaches KSC. On January 24,the Skylab Deorbit Agena is launched atop a Delta 3914,reaching Skylab the next day. Skylab deorbit is planned for May 1. The FTNG astronaut group graduates to training on February 12.
March-April 1979
Voyager 1 flies past Jupiter on March 5:after its flyby,the Jovian moon Io is revealed to have active volcanoes. Photopolarimeter data suggests the possibility of a salt ocean below the Jovian moon Europa. The Soyuz 31 mission to Salyut 6 just before Easter is comprised of Leonid Popov and Georgi Ivanov-Kakalov,who spend a week on Salyut 6. Assembly of Salyut 8 (the Mir core) is completed (Salyut 7 was completed early in 1977).