The year 1971 in science and technology included many events, some of which are listed below.

Astronomy and space exploration

• January 31 - Apollo program: Astronauts aboard Apollo 14 lift off for a mission to the moon.
• February 5 - Apollo 14 lands on the Moon.
• February 9 - Apollo program: Apollo 14 returns to Earth after the third manned moon landing.
• May 19 - Mars probe program: Mars 2 is launched by the Soviet Union.
• May 30 - Mariner program: Mariner 9 is launched toward Mars.
• June 30 - The crew of the Soyuz 11 spacecraft are killed when their air supply leaks out through a faulty valve
• July 26 - Apollo program: Launch of Apollo 15. On July 31 the Apollo 15 astronauts become the first to ride in a lunar rover a day after landing on the surface.
• November 13 - Mariner program: Mariner 9 enters Mars orbit.

Computer science

• November 3 - The UNIX Programmer's Manual is published.
• November 15 - Intel releases world's first microprocessor, the 4004.

Awards

• Nobel Prizes
  • Physics - Dennis Gabor
  • Chemistry - Gerhard Herzberg
  • Medicine - Earl W Sutherland, Jr
• Turing Award - John McCarthy

Births

Deaths

• March 11 - Philo T. Farnsworth (b. 1906), television pioneer.