Venera 2 [SEP] time of spacecraft launch
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Venera 2


Venera 2 ( meaning "Venus 2"), also known as 3MV-4 No.4 was a Soviet spacecraft intended to explore Venus. A 3MV-4 spacecraft launched as part of the Venera programme, it failed to return data after flying past Venus. Venera 2 was launched by a Molniya carrier rocket, flying from Site 31/6 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The launch occurred at 05:02 UTC on 12 November 1965, with the first three stages placing the spacecraft and Blok-L upper stage into a low Earth parking orbit before the Blok-L
13552638
Venera 2MV-2 No.1


Venera 2MV-2 No.1, also known as Sputnik 21 in the West, was a Soviet spacecraft, which was launched in 1962 as part of the Venera programme, and was intended to make a flyby of Venus. Due to a problem with the rocket which launched it, it failed to leave low Earth orbit, and reentered the atmosphere a few days later. It was the second Venera 2MV-2 spacecraft, both of which failed to leave Earth orbit. Venera 2MV-2 No.1 was launched at 00:59:13 UTC on 12 September 1962, atop a
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Venera 2MV-1 No.2


Venera 2MV-1 No.2, also known as Sputnik 20 in the Western world, was a Soviet spacecraft, which was launched in 1962 as part of the Venera programme, and was intended to become the first spacecraft to land on Venus. Due to a problem with its upper stage it failed to leave low Earth orbit, and reentered the atmosphere a few days later. It was the second of two Venera 2MV-1 spacecraft, both of which failed to leave Earth orbit. The previous mission, Venera 2MV-1 No.1, was launched several days
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Venera 4V-2


Venera 4V-2 () was a series of two identical spacecraft sent to Venus by the Soviet Union, consisting of Venera 15 and Venera 16. Both unmanned orbiters were to map the surface of Venus using high resolution imaging systems. The spacecraft were identical and based on modifications to the earlier Venera space probes. Venera 15 was launched on June 2, 1983 at 02:38:39 UTC, and Venera 16 on June 7, 1983 at 02:32:00 UTC. Venera 15 and Venera 16 both reached Venus' orbit (on October 10, 1983 and
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Venera 15


Venera 15 ( meaning "Venus 15") was a spacecraft sent to Venus by the Soviet Union. This unmanned orbiter was to map the surface of Venus using high resolution imaging systems. The spacecraft was identical to Venera 16 and based on modifications to the earlier Venera space probes. Venera 15 was launched on June 2, 1983 at 02:38:39 UTC and reached Venus' orbit on October 10, 1983. The spacecraft was inserted into Venus orbit a day apart from Venera 16, with its orbital plane shifted by an angle of
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Venera 2MV-1 No.1


Venera 2MV-1 No.1, also known as Sputnik 19 in the West, was a Soviet spacecraft, which was launched in 1962 as part of the Venera programme, and was intended to become the first spacecraft to land on Venus. Due to a problem with its upper stage it failed to leave low Earth orbit, and reentered the atmosphere a few days later. It was the first of two Venera 2MV-1 spacecraft, both of which failed to leave Earth orbit. Venera 2MV-1 No.1 was launched at 02:18:45 UTC on 25 August 1962,
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Kosmos 96


with two other spacecraft which were launched as Venera 2 and Venera 3, to explore Venus. A Molniya carrier rocket was used to launch 3MV-4 No.6. The launch occurred from Site 31/6 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 03:21 UTC on 23 November 1965. Late in third stage flight, a fuel line ruptured, causing one of the engine's combustion chambers to explode. The rocket tumbled out of control, and as a result the fourth stage, a Blok-L, failed to ignite. The spacecraft was deployed into a low
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Venera 4V-2


from Earth. No transmissions were possible, so the orbit of Venera 16 was rotated back 20° at this time to map the areas missed during this period. Together, the two spacecraft imaged the area from the north pole down to about 30°N latitude (i.e. approx. 25% of Venus surface) over the 8 months of mapping operations. The Venera 15 and 16 spacecraft were identical and were based on modifications to the orbiter portions of the Venera 9 and Venera 14 probes. Each spacecraft consisted of a 5
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Venera 5


Venera 5 ( meaning "Venus 5") was a space probe in the Soviet space program "Venera" for the exploration of Venus. Venera 5 was launched towards Venus to obtain atmospheric data. The spacecraft was very similar to Venera 4 although it was of a stronger design. The launch was conducted using a Molniya-M rocket, flying from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. When the atmosphere of Venus was approached, a capsule weighing and containing scientific instruments was jettisoned from the main spacecraft. During satellite descent towards the surface of
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Vega program


previous Venera 9 and Venera 10 missions. The two spacecraft were launched on 15 and 21 December 1984, respectively. With their redesignated dual missions, the Vega probes became part of the Halley Armada, a group of space probes that studied Halley's Comet during its 1985/1986 perihelion. "Vega 1" and "Vega 2" were identical sister ships. The spacecraft was a development of the earlier "Venera" craft. They were designed by Babakin Space Center and constructed as 5VK by Lavochkin at Khimki. The craft was powered
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Venera 1


Venera 1 ( meaning "Venus 1"), also known as Venera-1VA No.2 and occasionally in the West as Sputnik 8 was the first spacecraft to fly past Venus, as part of the Soviet Union's Venera programme. Launched in February 1961, it flew past Venus on 19 May of the same year; however, radio contact with the probe was lost before the flyby, resulting in it returning no data. "Venera 1" was a probe consisting of a cylindrical body in diameter topped by a dome, totalling in
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Venera 16


Venera 16 ( meaning "Venus 16") was a spacecraft sent to Venus by the Soviet Union. This unmanned orbiter was to map the surface of Venus using high resolution imaging systems. The spacecraft was identical to Venera 15 and based on modifications to the earlier Venera space probes.The latest data from the spacecraft were received on June 13, 1985, when it responded to the signal sent From the earth for «Vega-1». Venera 16 was launched on June 7, 1983 at 02:32:00 UTC and reached Venus' orbit
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Venera 14


Venera 14 ( meaning "Venus 14") was a probe in the Soviet Venera program for the exploration of Venus. Venera 14 was identical to the Venera 13 spacecraft and built to take advantage of the 1981 Venus launch opportunity and launched 5 days apart. It was launched on 4 November 1981 at 05:31:00 UTC and Venera 13 on 30 October 1981 at 06:04:00 UTC, both with an on-orbit dry mass of . Each mission consisted of a cruise stage and an attached descent craft. As the cruise stage flew by Venus
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Venera 6


Venera 6 (' meaning "Venus 6"), or 2V (V-69) No.331, was a Soviet spacecraft, launched towards Venus to obtain atmospheric data. It had an on-orbit dry mass of . The spacecraft was very similar to Venera 4 although it was of a stronger design. When the atmosphere of Venus was approached, a capsule with a mass of was jettisoned from the main spacecraft. This capsule contained scientific instruments. During descent towards the surface of Venus, a parachute opened to slow the rate of
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Kosmos 167


Kosmos 167 ( meaning "Cosmos 167"), or 4V-1 No.311, was a 1967 Soviet spacecraft intended to explore Venus. A 4V-1 spacecraft launched as part of the Venera programme, Kosmos 167 was intended to land on Venus, but never departed low Earth orbit due to a launch failure. The 4V-1 No.311 spacecraft was the second of two 4V-1 vehicles built and operated by Lavochkin, following Venera 4. A Molniya-M carrier rocket was used to launch 3MV-4 No.6. The launch occurred from Site 1/5 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome
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Venera 13


Venera 13 ( meaning "Venus 13") was a probe in the Soviet Venera program for the exploration of Venus. Venera 13 and 14 were identical spacecraft built to take advantage of the 1981 Venus launch opportunity and launched 5 days apart, Venera 13 on 30 October 1981 at 06:04 UTC and Venera 14 on 4 November 1981 at 05:31 UTC, both with an on-orbit dry mass of . Each mission consisted of a cruise stage and an attached descent craft. As the cruise stage flew by Venus the bus acted as
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Venera 2MV-1 No.2


earlier. Venera 2MV-1 No.2 was launched at 02:12:30 UTC on 1 September 1962, atop a Molniya 8K78 carrier rocket flying from Site 1/5 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The lower stages of the rocket operated nominally, injecting the fourth stage and payload into a low Earth orbit. Following a coast phase, the upper stage was to have ignited around sixty-one minutes and thirty seconds after launch, in order to place the spacecraft into heliocentric orbit. The ignition command did not reach the engine, however, and the fuel valves did
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Venera 1


following the launch of its sister ship "Venera-1VA No.1", which failed to leave Earth orbit. Soviet experts launched Venera-1 using a Molniya carrier rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The launch took place at 00:34:36 UTC on 12 February 1961. The spacecraft, along with the rocket's Blok-L upper stage, were initially placed into a 229 × 282 km low Earth orbit, before the upper stage fired to place "Venera 1" into a heliocentric orbit, directed towards Venus. The 11D33 engine was the world's first
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Venera 2


fired to propel Venera 2 into heliocentric orbit bound for Venus, with perihelion of 0.716 AU, aphelion of 1.197 AU, eccentricity of 0.252, inclination of 4.29 degrees and orbital period of 341 days. The Venera 2 spacecraft was equipped with cameras, as well as a magnetometer, solar and cosmic x-ray detectors, piezoelectric detectors, ion traps, a Geiger counter and receivers to measure cosmic radio emissions. The spacecraft made its closest approach to Venus at 02:52 UTC on 27 February 1966, at a distance of . During
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Venera 1


During most of its flight, "Venera 1" was spin stabilized. It was the first spacecraft designed to perform mid-course corrections, by entering a mode of 3-axis stabilization, fixing on the Sun and the star Canopus. Had it reached Venus, it would have entered another mode of 3-axis stabilization, fixing on the Sun and Earth, and using for the first time a parabolic antenna to relay data. "Venera 1" was the second of two attempts to launch a probe to Venus in February 1961, immediately
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Mars 2


The Mars 2 was an unmanned space probe of the Mars program, a series of unmanned Mars landers and orbiters launched by the Soviet Union May 19, 1971. The Mars 2 and Mars 3 missions consisted of identical spacecraft, each with an orbiter and an attached lander. The orbiter is identical to the Venera 9 bus or orbiter. The type of bus/orbiter is the 4MV. They were launched by a Proton-K heavy launch vehicle with a Blok D upper stage. The lander of Mars 2 became the first
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InterPlanetary Network


, two bursts of hard X-rays were detected from the same source in the constellation Dorado by the γ-ray burst detector Konus, on the Venera 11 and Venera 12 spacecraft. These X-ray bursts were detected by several other spacecraft. As part of the InterPlanetary Network (IPN), Venera 11, Venera 12 were hit by the March 5, 1979, hard X-ray burst at ~10:51 EST, followed 11 s later by Helios 2 in orbit around the Sun, then the Pioneer Venus Orbiter at
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Zond 1


L stage, but an investigation found that the problem was easily resolved. The spacecraft, a "Venera 3MV-1", was launched on April 2, 1964 from Tyuratam and this time the launch vehicle performed flawlessly. During the cruise phase, a slow leak from a cracked sensor window caused the electronics compartment to lose air pressure. This was a serious problem as Soviet electronics relied on vacuum tubes which would overheat without cooling air. An ill-timed command from ground control turned on its radio system while there was still a
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Kosmos 96


Kosmos 96 ( meaning "Cosmos 96"), or 3MV-4 No.6, was a Soviet spacecraft intended to explore Venus. A 3MV-4 spacecraft launched as part of the Venera programme, Kosmos 96 was to have made a flyby of Venus; however, due to a launch failure, it did not depart low Earth orbit. The 3MV-4 No.6 spacecraft was originally built for a mission to Mars, with launch scheduled for late 1964. After it was not launched by the end of its launch window, the spacecraft was repurposed, along
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Venera 3


Venera 3 ( meaning "Venus 3") was a Venera program space probe that was built and launched by the Soviet Union to explore the surface of Venus. It was launched on 16 November 1965 at 04:19 UTC from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, USSR. The probe comprised an entry probe, designed to enter the Venus atmosphere and parachute to the surface, and a carrier/flyby spacecraft, which carried the entry probe to Venus and also served as a communications relay for the entry probe. During 1965, the Central Committee,
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Venera


Soviet attempt at a flyby probe to Venus was launched on February 4, 1961, but failed to leave Earth orbit. In keeping with the Soviet policy at that time of not announcing details of failed missions, the launch was announced under the name Tyazhely Sputnik ("Heavy Satellite"). It is also known as Venera 1VA. As with some of the Soviet Union's other planetary probes, the later versions were launched in pairs with a second vehicle launched soon after the first. Venera 1 and Venera 2 were intended
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Nikolai Kamanin


manned launch. Commissioner for all other space launches, including the first interplanetary space probes. He was skeptical about the value of these probes: "Venus launch is hardly a sensible endeavor: it delays manned flight and decreases Rocket Force battle-readiness" ("Пуск на Венеру - затея едва ли разумная: она задерживает полет человека и снижает боеспособность ракетных войск"). Indeed, the first Venus mission failed - the Venera spacecraft was trapped in Earth's orbit. The second Venera, launched 12 February 1961, missed its
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Zond 3MV-1 No.2


Zond 3MV-1 No.2 (or No. 4A ), also known as Venera 1964A in the West, was a Soviet spacecraft, which was launched in 1964 as part of the Zond program. Due to a problem with its carrier rocket third stage, it failed to reach low Earth orbit. Zond 3MV-1 No.2 was launched at 05:47:40 UTC on 19 February 1964, atop a Molniya 8K78M carrier rocket flying from Site 1/5 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. During ascent, LOX entered an RP-1 duct due to a leaking valve and formed a
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Venera


to fly past Venus without entering orbit. Venera 1 was launched on February 12, 1961. Telemetry on the probe failed seven days after launch. It is believed to have passed within of Venus and remains in heliocentric orbit. Venera 2 launched on November 12, 1965, but also suffered a telemetry failure after leaving Earth orbit. Several other failed attempts at Venus flyby probes were launched by the Soviet Union in the early 1960s, but were not announced as planetary missions at the time, and hence did not officially receive the
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Kosmos 21


Kosmos 21 ( meaning "Cosmos 21") was a Soviet spacecraft with an unknown mission. This mission has been tentatively identified by NASA as a technology test of the Venera series space probes. It may have been an attempted Venus flyby, presumably similar to the later Kosmos 27 mission, or it may have been intended from the beginning to remain in geocentric orbit. In any case, the spacecraft never left Earth orbit after insertion by the SL-6/A-2-e launcher. The orbit decayed on November 14, three days after launch
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Solar electric propulsion


Solar electric propulsion (SEP) typically refers to the combination of solar cells and an ion drive to propel a spacecraft through outer space. This technology has been exploited in a variety of spacecraft by the European Space Agency, the Japanese Space Agency, Indian Space Research Organisation and NASA. SEP is valued for its potential for a high specific impulse, thus allowing less mass for propellant to be launched with a spacecraft and it has been evaluated for mission to Mars. Solar electric propulsion combines solar panels on spacecraft and ion thrusters,
19663908
Observations and explorations of Venus


. The first time, it flew by on October 24, 2006, passing 3000 km from Venus. As Earth was on the other side of the Sun, no data was recorded. The second flyby was on July 6, 2007, where the spacecraft passed only 325 km from the cloudtops. The "Venera-D" spacecraft was proposed to Roscosmos in 2003 and the concept has been matured since then. It would be launched in the late 2020s and its prime purpose is to map Venus's surface using a powerful
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Gagarin's Start


its maiden voyage from LC-1 on 15 May 1957. On 4 October 1957 the pad was used to launch the world's first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1. Manned spaceflights launched from the site include Yuri Gagarin's flight, Valentina Tereshkova's flight, and numerous other human spaceflight missions, including all Soviet and Russian manned spaceflights to Mir. The pad was also used to launch Luna program spacecraft, Mars probe program spacecraft, Venera program spacecraft, many Cosmos satellites and others. From 1957 through 1966 the site hosted ready-to
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Interplanetary mission


using Apollo hardware in the 1970s. The American space agency NASA intends to be able to launch a manned interplanetary mission to Mars by some time after 2030 under the Vision for Space Exploration. The European Space Agency has the long-term vision of sending a human mission to Mars by 2030 under the Aurora Programme. The first interplanetary mission to fly past another planet was the Soviet Union's Venera 1. The robotic spacecraft was intended to enter into orbit around Venus, but suffered a malfunction and radio contact with the spacecraft was
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Venera 4


nominally identical 4V-1 probes were launched in June 1967. The first probe, Venera 4, was launched on 12 June by a Molniya-M carrier rocket flying from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. A course correction was performed on 29 July when it was 12 million km away from Earth; otherwise the probe would have missed Venus. Although two such corrections had been planned, the first one was accurate enough and therefore the second correction was canceled. On 18 October 1967, the spacecraft entered the Venusian atmosphere with an estimated landing place near
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Venera 16


on October 11, 1983. The spacecraft was inserted into Venus orbit a day apart from Venera 15, with its orbital plane shifted by an angle of approximately 4° relative to one another probe. This made it possible to reimage an area if necessary. The spacecraft was in a nearly polar orbit with a periapsis ~1000 km, at 62°N latitude, and apoapsis ~65000 km, with an inclination ~90°, the orbital period being ~24 hours. Together with Venera 15, the spacecraft imaged the area from the north
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Venera 15


and 16 spacecraft were identical and were based on modifications to the orbiter portions of the Venera 9 and Venera 14 probes. Each spacecraft consisted of a long cylinder with a diameter, tall parabolic dish antenna for the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) at one end. A 1-meter diameter parabolic dish antenna for the radio altimeter was also located at this end. The electrical axis of the radio altimeter antenna was lined up with the axis of the cylinder. The electrical axis of the SAR deviated from the spacecraft axis by 10 degrees.
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Mariner 2


vehicle forced a switch to the much smaller Agena B stage. As such, the design of the Mariner R vehicles was greatly simplified. Far less instrumentation was carried than on the Soviet Venera probes of this period--for example, forgoing a TV camera--as the Atlas-Agena B had only half as much lift capacity as the Soviet 8K78 booster. The Mariner 2 spacecraft was launched from Cape Canaveral on August 27, 1962, and passed as close as to Venus on December 14, 1962. The Mariner probe consisted
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Venera 16


pole down to about 30°N latitude (i.e. approx. 25% of Venus surface) over the 8 months of mapping operations. The Venera 15 and 16 spacecraft were identical and were based on modifications to the orbiter portions of the Venera 9 and Venera 14 probes. Each spacecraft consisted of a long cylinder with a diameter, tall parabolic dish antenna for the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) at one end. A 1-meter diameter parabolic dish antenna for the radio altimeter was also located at this end. The electrical axis of
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Venera 9


Venera 9 ( meaning "Venus 9"), manufacturer's designation: 4V-1 No. 660, was a Soviet unmanned space mission to Venus. It consisted of an orbiter and a lander. It was launched on June 8, 1975, at 02:38:00 UTC and had a mass of . The orbiter was the first spacecraft to orbit Venus, while the lander was the first to return images from the surface of another planet. The orbiter entered Venus orbit on October 20, 1975. Its mission was to act as a communications
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Vega 2


Vega 2 (along with Vega 1) was a Soviet space probe part of the Vega program to explore Halley's comet and Venus. The spacecraft was a development of the earlier "Venera" craft. The name VeGa (ВеГа) combines the first two letters Russian words for Venus (Венера: "Venera") and Halley (Галлея: "Galleya") They were designed by Babakin Space Centre and constructed as 5VK by Lavochkin at Khimki. The craft was powered by twin large solar panels and instruments included an antenna
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Venera 4


pressure reached , which was thought to occur at the altitude about above the surface of the planet. The signals were received by several stations, including the Jodrell Bank Observatory. The capsule was equipped with a rechargeable battery with a capacity sufficient for 100 minutes of powering the measurement and transmitter systems. To avoid becoming discharged during the flight to Venus, the battery was kept charged using the solar panels of the carrier spacecraft. Before the launch, the entire Venera 4 station was sterilized to prevent possible biological contamination of Venus. Two
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Venera 13


a ring-shaped landing platform and topped by an antenna. The design was similar to the earlier Venera 9–12 landers. It carried instruments to take chemical and isotopic measurements, monitor the spectrum of scattered sunlight, and record electric discharges during its descent phase through the Venusian atmosphere. The spacecraft utilized a camera system, an X-ray fluorescence spectrometer, a screw drill and surface sampler, a dynamic penetrometer, and a seismometer to conduct investigations on the surface. List of lander experiments and instruments: After launch and a four
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Venera 14


The design was similar to the earlier Venera 9–12 landers. It carried instruments to take chemical and isotopic measurements, monitor the spectrum of scattered sunlight, and record electric discharges during its descent phase through the Venusian atmosphere. The spacecraft utilized a camera system, an X-ray fluorescence spectrometer, a screw drill and surface sampler, a dynamic penetrometer, and a seismometer to conduct investigations on the surface. List of lander experiments and instruments: After launch and a four-month cruise to Venus the descent vehicle separated from the bus
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Venera 7


Venera 7 (, meaning "Venus 7") was a Soviet spacecraft, part of the Venera series of probes to Venus. When it landed on the Venusian surface, it became the first spacecraft to land on another planet and first to transmit data from there back to Earth. The lander was designed to be able to survive pressure of up to and temperatures of . This was significantly greater than what was expected to be encountered but significant uncertainties as to the surface temperatures and pressure of Venus resulted in the designers opting for
10617140
Observations and explorations of Venus


probes have achieved a soft landing on the surface, with up to 110 minutes of communication from the surface, all without return. Launch windows occur every 19 months. On February 12, 1961, the Soviet spacecraft "Venera 1" was the first probe launched to another planet. An overheated orientation sensor caused it to malfunction, losing contact with Earth before its closest approach to Venus of 100,000 km. However, the probe was first to combine all the necessary features of an interplanetary spacecraft: solar panels, parabolic telemetry antenna
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Solar wind


In January 1959, the Soviet spacecraft "Luna 1" first directly observed the solar wind and measured its strength, using hemispherical ion traps. The discovery, made by Konstantin Gringauz, was verified by "Luna 2", "Luna 3" and by the more distant measurements of "Venera 1". Three years later a similar measurement was performed by Neugebauer and collaborators using the "Mariner 2" spacecraft. In the late 1990s, the Ultraviolet Coronal Spectrometer (UVCS) instrument on board the SOHO spacecraft observed the acceleration
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Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 81


Site 81 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome is a launch site used, along with Site 200, by Proton rockets. It consists of two launch pads, areas 23 and 24. Area 24 is used for Proton-K and Proton-M launches, while Area 23 is inactive. Several planetary probes have been launched from Site 81. Area 23 was used to launch Mars 3, Mars 4, Mars 6 and Venera 11, whilst Area 24 was used by Mars 2, Mars 5, Mars 7, Venera 9, Venera
16899936
Venera 16


also attached to the side of the cylinder. The spacecraft each weighed . Both Venera 15 and 16 were equipped with a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR). A radar was necessary in this mission because nothing else would be able to penetrate the dense clouds of Venus. The probes were equipped with on board computers that saved the images until the entire image was complete. List of spacecraft instruments and experiments: To get to Venus, Venera 16 was placed in a heliocentric orbit with perihelion of 0.71 AU, apohelion of 1.01 AU
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Venera 15


approximately 4° relative to the other probe. This made it possible to reimage an area if necessary. The spacecraft was in a nearly polar orbit with a periapsis ~1000 km, at 62°N latitude, and apoapsis ~65000 km, with an inclination ~90°, the orbital period being ~24 hours. Together with Venera 16, the spacecraft imaged the area from the north pole down to about 30°N latitude (i.e. approx. 25% of Venus surface) over the 8 months of mapping operations. The Venera 15
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Venera 3


successfully sent back a series of TV pictures. The Lavochkin Bureau began a comprehensive testing program of the Venera and Luna probes, while Korolev had always opposed the idea of bench tests except on manned spacecraft. Among other design flaws they discovered was that the Venera landers, after being subjected to a centrifuge test, failed at half the G forces that they were supposed to handle. The mission of this spacecraft was to land on the Venusian surface. The entry body contained a radio communication system, scientific instruments, electrical power sources
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RD-0210


May 1971 a Proton launched the Mars 2 probe to Mars. The orbiter was identical to the Venera 9 bus, and the lander was the first man made object to reach the surface of Mars. On 8 June 1975 a Proton launched the Venera 9 to Venus. It consisted of an orbiter based on the Mars 2 design, and a lander which was sent the first pictured from the surface of Venus. On 20 November 1998 a Proton launched Zarya the first module of the ISS. On 12 July 2000 a Proton launched
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Vega 1


Vega 1 (along with its twin Vega 2) is a Soviet space probe part of the Vega program. The spacecraft was a development of the earlier "Venera" craft. They were designed by Babakin Space Centre and constructed as 5VK by Lavochkin at Khimki. The name VeGa (ВеГа) combines the first two letters Russian words for Venus (Венера: "Venera") and Halley (Галлея: "Galleya"). The craft was powered by twin large solar panels and instruments included an antenna dish, cameras,
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Venera 9


at 05:13 UTC on October 22. "Venera 9" landed within a radius of , near Beta Regio, on a steep (20°) slope covered with boulders (suspected to be the slope of the tectonic rift valley, Aikhylu Chasma). The entry sphere weighed and the surface payload was . It was the first spacecraft to return an image from the surface of another planet. Many of the instruments began working immediately after touchdown and the cameras were operational 2 minutes later. These instruments revealed a smooth surface with numerous
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Venera


surface as it crash-landed on March 1, 1966. However, as the spacecraft's dataprobes had failed upon atmospheric penetration, no data from within the Venusian boundary were retrieved from the mission. On 18 October 1967, Venera 4 became the first spacecraft to measure the atmosphere of another planet. While the Soviet Union initially claimed the craft reached the surface intact, re-analysis including atmospheric occultation data from the American Mariner 5 spacecraft that flew by Venus the day after its arrival demonstrated that Venus's surface pressure was 75
18963858
Lovell Telescope


the telescope received signals from, and tracked, Venera 4, a Russian probe to Venus. The telescope tracked Mars 1 in 1962–3, and Mars 2 and Mars 3 in 1971 (amidst the upgrade of the telescope to the Mark IA). In more recent years, it has also searched for several lost Mars spacecraft, including NASA's Mars Observer spacecraft in 1993, Mars Polar Lander in 2000, and the Beagle 2 lander on Mars in 2003. However, it did not succeed in locating any of them. As
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Observations and explorations of Venus


During another American flyby in 1967, "Mariner 5" measured the strength of Venus's magnetic field. In 1974, "Mariner 10" swung by Venus on its way to Mercury and took ultraviolet photographs of the clouds, revealing the extraordinarily high wind speeds in the Venusian atmosphere. On March 1, 1966 the "Venera 3" Soviet space probe crash-landed on Venus, becoming the first spacecraft to reach the surface of another planet. Its sister craft "Venera 2" had failed due to overheating shortly before completing
19749706
Observations and explorations of Venus


The "Vega" spacecraft continued to rendezvous with Halley's Comet nine months later, bringing an additional 14 instruments and cameras for that mission. The multiaimed Soviet Vesta mission, developed in cooperation with European countries for realisation in 1991–1994 but canceled due to the Soviet Union disbanding, included the delivering the balloons and small lander to Venus according to first plan. In October 1983, "Venera 15" and "Venera 16" entered polar orbits around Venus. The images had a 1–2 kilometre (0.6–1.2 mile) resolution, comparable to
19749717
Venera 4V-2


would be looking off to the side at 10 degrees. A bulge at the opposite end of the cylinder held fuel tanks and propulsion units. Two square solar arrays extended like wings from the sides of the cylinder. A 2.6 m radio dish antenna for communications was also attached to the side of the cylinder. The spacecraft each massed 4000 kg. Both Venera 15 and 16 were equipped with a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR). A radar was necessary in this mission because nothing else would be able to penetrate the dense clouds
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RD-0214


moon and back to Earth. On 19 May 1971 a Proton launched the Mars 2 probe to Mars. The orbiter was identical to the Venera 9 bus, and the lander was the first man made object to reach the surface of Mars. On 8 June 1975 a Proton launched the Venera 9 to Venus. It consisted of an orbiter based on the Mars 2 design, and a lander which was sent the first pictured from the surface of Venus. There are two basic versions of this engine: These engines are actually bundled
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Venera 5


Venus, a parachute opened to slow the rate of descent. For 53 minutes on May 16, 1969, while the capsule was suspended from the parachute, data from the Venusian atmosphere were returned. It landed at . The spacecraft also carried a medallion bearing the State Coat of Arms of the Soviet Union and a bas-relief of Lenin to the night side of Venus. Given the results from Venera 4, the Venera 5 and Venera 6 landers contained new chemical analysis experiments tuned to provide more precise measurements of the atmosphere
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Venera 8


Venera 8 ( meaning "Venus 8") was a probe in the Soviet Venera program for the exploration of Venus and was the first robotic space probe to conduct a successful landing on the surface of Venus. Venera 8 was a Venus atmospheric probe and lander. Its instrumentation included temperature, pressure, and light sensors as well as an altimeter, gamma ray spectrometer, gas analyzer, and radio transmitters. The spacecraft took 117 days to reach Venus with one mid-course correction on 6 April 1972, separating from the bus
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Venera 6


descent. For 51 minutes on May 17, 1969, while the capsule was suspended from the parachute, data from the Venusian atmosphere were returned. It landed at . The spacecraft also carried a medallion bearing the State Coat of Arms of the Soviet Union and a bas-relief of Lenin to the night side of Venus. Given the results from Venera 4, the Venera 5 and Venera 6 landers contained new chemical analysis experiments tuned to provide more precise measurements of the atmosphere's components. Knowing the atmosphere was extremely dense,
6028533
Kosmos 96


Earth orbit with a perigee of , an apogee of , and 51.9 degrees of inclination to the equator. The spacecraft was named "Kosmos 96", part of a series typically used for military and experimental satellites in order to cover up the failure. Had it departed Earth's orbit, it would have received the next designation in the "Venera" series, at the time Venera 4. Kosmos 96 was destroyed when it reentered the Earth's atmosphere on 9 December 1965. Its reentry has been suggested as a possible explanation
17602624
Venera-D


two balloons, two small landers, and a large, long-lived lander (24 h). By 2011, the mission had been pushed back to 2018, and scaled back to an orbiter with a subsatellite orbiter, and a single lander with an expected 3-hour operation time. By the beginning of 2011, the Venera-D project entered Phase A (Preliminary Design) stage of development. Following the loss of the Phobos-Grunt spacecraft in November 2011 and resulting delays in all Russian planetary projects (with the exception
9164581
Vega program


flyby Halley's Comet. The flyby of Halley's Comet had been a late mission change in the Venera program following on from the cancellation of the American Halley mission in 1981. A later Venera mission was canceled and the Venus part of the "Vega 1" mission was reduced. Because of this, the craft was designated VeGa, a contraction of "Venera" and "Gallei" (Венера and Галлея respectively, the Russian words for "Venus" and "Halley"). The spacecraft design was based on the
14518063
Outer space


the Earth. The first spacecraft to reach escape velocity was the Soviet Luna 1, which performed a fly-by of the Moon in 1959. In 1961, Venera 1 became the first planetary probe. It revealed the presence of the solar wind and performed the first fly-by of Venus, although contact was lost before reaching Venus. The first successful planetary mission was the 1962 fly-by of Venus by Mariner 2. The first fly-by of Mars was by Mariner 4 in 1964. Since that time,
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Venera 4V-2


October 14, 1983 respectively). The two spacecraft were inserted into Venus orbit a day apart with their orbital planes shifted by an angle of approximately 4° relative to one another. This made it possible to reimage an area if necessary. Each spacecraft was in a nearly polar orbit with a periapsis ~1000 km, at 62°N latitude, and apoapsis ~65000 km, with an inclination ~90°, the orbital period being ~24 hours. In June 1984, Venus was at superior conjunction and passed behind the Sun as seen
2410086
Spacecraft magnetometer


, Mariner 2, Venera 1, Explorer 12, Explorer 14, and Explorer 15. Explorer 33 was 'to be' the first US spacecraft to enter stable orbit around the moon was equipped with the most advanced magnetometer, a boom-mounted triaxial fluxgate (GFSC) magnetometer of the early-vector type. It had a small range but was accurate to a resolution of 0.25 nT. However, after a rocket failure it was left in a highly elliptical orbit around Earth that orbited through the electro/magnetic tail. The
7279966
Soyuz TM-2


Soyuz TM-2 was the spacecraft used to launch a long duration crew to the Soviet space station Mir, which was unmanned at the time. TM-2 was launched in February 1987, and it was first manned spaceflight of the Soyuz-TM spacecraft, and the second manned spaceflight to Mir (the first being Soyuz T-15). The crew of the long duration expedition, Mir EO-2, who were launched by TM-2 consisted of Soviet cosmonauts Yuri Romanenko and Aleksandr Laveykin. The spacecraft remained docked to Mir, functioning as a lifeboat for the
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Venera 4


carrier spacecraft contained a liquid-fuel thruster capable of correcting the flight course. The flight program was planned to include two significant course corrections, for which purpose the station could receive and execute up to 127 different commands sent from the Earth. The front part of the carrier spacecraft contained a nearly spherical landing capsule in diameter and weighing . Compared to previous (failed) Venera probes, the capsule contained an improved heat shield which could withstand temperatures up to . Instead of the previous liquid-based cooling design, a simpler and
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Venera 11


minutes until it flew out of range and returned its own measurements on interplanetary space. Venera 11 flight platform carried solar wind detectors, ionosphere electron instruments and two gamma ray burst detectors – the Soviet-built KONUS and the French-built SIGNE 2. The SIGNE 2 detectors were simultaneously flown on Venera 12 and Prognoz 7 to allow triangulation of gamma ray sources. Before and after Venus flyby, Venera 11 and Venera 12 yielded detailed time-profiles for 143 gamma-ray bursts, resulting in the first ever catalog of such
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Kosmos 482


in Earth orbit and given a Kosmos designation. Kosmos 482 was launched by a Molniya booster on March 31, 1972, four days after the Venera 8 atmospheric probe and may have been similar in design and mission plan. After achieving an Earth parking orbit, the spacecraft made an apparent attempt to launch into a Venus transfer trajectory. It separated into four pieces, two of which remained in low Earth orbit and decayed within 48 hours into south New Zealand (known as the "Ashburton balls incident"), and two pieces
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Venera 4


Venera 4 ( meaning "Venus 4"), also designated 1V (V-67) s/n 310 was a probe in the Soviet Venera program for the exploration of Venus. The probe comprised an entry probe, designed to enter the Venus atmosphere and parachute to the surface, and a carrier/flyby spacecraft, which carried the entry probe to Venus and served as a communications relay for the entry probe. In 1967 it was the first successful probe to perform in-place analysis of the environment of another planet. It
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Venera 4


atmosphere was far denser than expected, and that it had lost most of its water long ago. The main carrier spacecraft 4 stood high, its solar panels spanned and had an area of . The carrier spacecraft included a 2-meter long magnetometer, an ion detector, a cosmic ray detector and an ultraviolet spectrometer capable of detecting hydrogen and oxygen gases. The devices were intended to operate until entry into the Venusian atmosphere. At that juncture, the station was designed to release the probe capsule and disintegrate. The rear part of the
13552667
InterPlanetary Network


GRB 690603. The location was determined to be clearly outside of the satellites' orbit, and probably outside of the Solar system. After reviewing archived Vela data, a previous burst was determined to have occurred on July 2, 1967. Public reports of initial GRBs were not disclosed until the early 1970s. Additional spacecraft were given gamma-ray detectors. The Apollo 15 and 16 missions carried detectors to study the Moon; middle-to-late Venera spacecraft carried detectors to Venus. The relatively long baselines of these missions again
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Venera 15


. A radar was necessary in this mission because nothing else would be able to penetrate the dense clouds of Venus. The probes were equipped with on board computers that saved the images until the entire image was complete. This radar system replaced the normal landers that previous Venera probes brought to Venus. List of spacecraft instruments and experiments: To get to Venus, Venera 15 was placed in a heliocentric orbit with perihelion of 0.71 AU, apohelion of 1.01 AU, eccentricity of 0.17, orbital inclination of 2.3 degrees and orbital period of
12843114
Venera 11


The Venera 11 ( meaning "Venus 11") was a Soviet unmanned space mission part of the Venera program to explore the planet Venus. Venera 11 was launched on 9 September 1978 at 03:25:39 UTC. Separating from its flight platform on December 23, 1978 the lander entered the Venus atmosphere two days later on December 25 at 11.2 km/s. During the descent, it employed aerodynamic braking followed by parachute braking and ending with atmospheric braking. It made a soft landing on the surface at 06:24 Moscow time (03:24 UT
18916305
2011 Scottish Conservative Party leadership election


to the UK Conservative Party. This prompts mixed reactions from senior party figures. 4 Sep – Ruth Davidson formally announces that she will stand in the contest. 5 Sep – Murdo Fraser launches his campaign in Edinburgh. 8 Sep – Ruth Davidson launches her campaign in Edinburgh. 11 Sep – Lord Forsyth, at one point a suggested leadership candidate, declares his backing for Ruth Davidson. 23 Sep – Nominations for leadership close. Margaret Mitchell confirms she will stand in the election. 2 Oct – David Mundell MP declares his backing
10722174
Lander (spacecraft)


Soviet Venera program included a number of Venus landers, some of which were crushed during descent much as Galileo's Jupiter "lander" and others of which successfully touched down. Venera 3 in 1966 and Venera 7 in 1970 became the first impact and soft landing on Venus. The Soviet Vega program also placed in 1985 two balloons in the Venusian atmosphere, they were the first aerial tools on other planets. The Soviet Union's Mars 1962B was the first Earth based mission intended to reach the surface as impact on Mars in 1962
14518038
1960s


, into outer space during the Vostok 1 mission on 12 April 1961 and scored a host of other successes, but by the middle of the decade the U.S. was taking the lead. In May 1961, President Kennedy set for the U.S. the goal of a manned spacecraft landing on the Moon by the end of the decade. In June 1963, Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space. In 1965, Soviets launched the first probe to hit another planet of the Solar system (Venus), Venera 3, and the
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Venera 12


time of approximately 1 hour. The touchdown speed was 7–8 m/s. Landing coordinates are . It transmitted data to the flight platform for 110 minutes after touchdown until the flight platform moved out of range while remaining in a heliocentric orbit. Identical instruments were carried on Venera 11 and 12. Venera 12 flight platform carried solar wind detectors, ionosphere electron instruments and two gamma ray burst detectors – the Soviet-built KONUS and the French-built SIGNE 2. The SIGNE 2 detectors were simultaneously flown on Venera 12 and Prognoz
18916311
Venera-D


laced with sulfuric acid. Venera-D would be launched with either a Proton or Angara A5 rocket. In 2003, Venera-D was proposed to the Russian Academy of Sciences for its "wish list" of scientific projects to be included into the Federal Space Program in 2006–2015. During the formulation of the mission concept in 2004, the launch of Venera-D was expected in 2013 and its landing on the surface of Venus in 2014. In its original conception, it had a large orbiter, sub-satellite,
9164580
Observations and explorations of Venus


It was discovered that the clouds of Venus are formed in three distinct layers. On October 25, "Venera 10" arrived and carried out a similar program of study. In 1978, NASA sent two "Pioneer" spacecraft to Venus. The "Pioneer" mission consisted of two components, launched separately: an orbiter and a multiprobe. The "Pioneer Venus Multiprobe" carried one large and three small atmospheric probes. The large probe was released on November 16, 1978 and the three small probes on November 20. All
19749711
Venera-D


" in Russian. Venera-D will be the first Venus probe launched by the Russian Federation (the earlier Venera probes were launched by the former Soviet Union). Venera-D will serve as the flagship for a new generation of Russian-built Venus probes, culminating with a lander capable of withstanding the harsh Venerian environment for more than the 1½ hours logged by the Soviet probes. The surface of Venus experiences average temperatures of 462° Celsius (864 Fahrenheit), crushing 90-bar pressures, and corroding clouds of carbon dioxide
9164579
SERVIS-2


responsible for launching the SERVIS-1 spacecraft, were awarded the contract to launch SERVIS-2 on 21 February 2007. SERVIS-2 arrived at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome on 26 April 2010. Prior to launch, the spacecraft underwent final testing and fuelling, and was subsequently attached to its launch adaptor on 22 May. This was attached to the upper stage the next day, and the day after that the spacecraft was encapsulated in the payload fairing. Under terminology used by Eurockot, as well as several other launch service providers, the combination of spacecraft, adaptor,
15061023
Carl E. Duckett


reconnaissance and "Molniya" communication spacecraft; "Voshkov" and the first spacewalk and "Venera" missions past Venus in 1965; and the "Luna" soft landing on the moon and the transmission of surface images in 1966 that put the Soviets ahead in the moon race. Of perhaps greater concern were Soviet ballistic missiles: third-generation ICBMs (NATO designations SS-9, SS-11, and SS-13), as well as submarine-launched intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs) that could easily reach U.S. territory. In addition
12002389
GEOStar-2


, the GEOStar-2 Bus targets shared launch opportunities, where launch cost and launch-sharing opportunities are favorable. Customers can purchase the GEOStar-2 Bus spacecraft bus alone, or as part of a turn-key service that includes an integrated payload, network operations center and launch vehicle. Orbital conducts spacecraft commissioning from its own ground station prior to transferring spacecraft control to the customer's operations center. The GEOStar-2 Bus fills a market niche for small, high power geosynchronous communications spacecraft. Orbital's first application of the GEOStar-2 Bus design, N
10270678
Mars 1


spacecraft's antenna orientation system. Mars 1's closest approach to Mars probably occurred on June 19, 1963 at a distance of approximately , after which the spacecraft entered an orbit around the Sun. Mars 1 was a modified Venera-type spacecraft in the shape of a cylinder long and in diameter. The spacecraft measured across with the solar panels and radiators deployed. The cylinder was divided into two compartments. The upper , the orbital module, contained guidance and on-board propulsion systems. The experiment module, containing the scientific
4297987
Venera 12


The Venera 12 ( meaning "Venus 12") was a Soviet unmanned space mission to explore the planet Venus. Venera 12 was launched on 14 September 1978 at 02:25:13 UTC. Separating from its flight platform on December 19, 1978, the lander entered the Venus atmosphere two days later at 11.2 km/s. During the descent, it employed aerodynamic braking followed by parachute braking and ending with atmospheric braking. It made a soft landing on the surface at 06:30 Moscow time (0330 UT) on 21 December after a descent
18916310
Phobos program


1" and "2" were of a new spacecraft design, succeeding the type used in the "Venera" planetary missions of 1975–1985, last used during the "Vega 1" and "Vega 2" missions to Comet Halley. They each had a mass of 2600 kg (6220 kg with orbital insertion hardware attached). The program featured cooperation from 14 other nations, including Sweden, Switzerland, Austria, France, West Germany, and the United States (which contributed the use of its NASA Deep Space Network for
21721058
Soviet Deep Space Network


this effort was started in 1959 to support the planned 1960 launch of the Venera series of missions to Venus and the Mars program of spacecraft to Mars. The selected design consisted of eight 16-meter dishes placed on two hulls of diesel submarines, welded together and laid down on the railway bridge trusses. These trusses were mounted on bearings from battleship gun turrets. Three such antennas were built: the two North stations for receiving, and the south station a few kilometers away for transmitting. In 1978, these antennas were augmented by the
17911500
Venera 2MV-1 No.1


atop a Molniya 8K78 carrier rocket flying from Site 1/5 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The first three stages of the rocket operated nominally, injecting the fourth stage and payload into a low Earth orbit. The fourth stage then coasted until one hour and fifty seconds after launch, when it fired its ullage motors in preparation for ignition. One of the ullage motors failed to fire, and when the main engine ignited for a four-minute burn to place the spacecraft into heliocentric orbit, the stage began to tumble out of control.
3823629
InterPlanetary Network


showed that bursts originated at great distances. Other spacecraft (such as the OGO, OSO, and IMP series) had detectors for Earth, Solar, or all-sky gamma radiation, and also confirmed the GRB phenomenon. Scientists began to tailor instruments specifically for GRBs. The Helios-2 spacecraft carried a detector with precision time resolution to a Solar orbit that took it over one AU from Earth. Helios-2 was launched in 1976. In 1978, multiple spacecraft were launched, forming the necessary baselines for a position determination. The Pioneer
9048773
GLONASS


As with the previous generation, the second generation spacecraft were launched three at a time using Proton-K Blok-DM-2 or Proton-K Briz-M boosters. Some where launched alone with Soyuz-2-1b/Fregat On July 30, 2015, ISS Reshetnev announced that it had completed the last GLONASS-M (No. 61) spacecraft and it was putting it in storage waiting for launch, along with eight previously built satellites. As on September 22, 2017, GLONASS-M No. 52 satellite went into
2195514
Nightingale Corona


Nightingale Corona is a corona found on the planet Venus. Latitude 63.6° North, Longitude 129.5° East. It has a diameter of 471 kilometers, and is the 35th largest corona on Venus. It is named for Florence Nightingale, an English nurse. Coronae are conventionally named for goddesses: however, when it was first discovered it was thought to be a crater, and named accordingly. It was 1983 when it was closely observed by the radar imaging equipment aboard the Venera 15 and Venera 16 spacecraft, that its true
18959659
Proton-K


. Many launches used an upper stage to boost the payload into a higher orbit. Blok D upper stages were used on forty flights, the majority of which were for the Luna and Zond programmes. Ten flights used the Blok D-1, mostly to launch spacecraft towards Venus. Blok D-2 upper stages were used three times, with the Fobos 1, Fobos 2 and Mars 96 spacecraft. The Blok DM upper stage was used on 66 launches. The most commonly used upper stage was the Blok DM-2, which was used on 109
20760485
Venera


-100 atmospheres, much higher than Venera 4's 25 atm hull strength, and the claim was retracted. Realizing the ships would be crushed before reaching the surface, the Soviets launched Venera 5 and Venera 6 as atmospheric probes. Designed to jettison nearly half their payload prior to entering the planet's atmosphere, these craft recorded 53 and 51 minutes of data, respectively, while slowly descending by parachute before their batteries failed. The Venera 7 probe was the first one designed to survive Venus surface conditions and to make a soft
18963859
Tyazhely Sputnik


Tyazhely Sputnik, ( meaning "Heavy Satellite"), also known by its development name as Venera 1VA No.1, and in the West as Sputnik 7, was a Soviet spacecraft, which was intended to be the first spacecraft to explore Venus. Due to a problem with its upper stage it failed to leave low Earth orbit. In order to avoid acknowledging the failure, the Soviet government instead announced that the entire spacecraft, including the upper stage, was a test of a "Heavy Satellite" which would serve as a
3726226
History of gamma-ray burst research


Instead of launching satellites only into Earth's orbit, it was deemed necessary to spread the detectors throughout the solar system. By the end of 1978, the first Inter-Planetary Network (IPN) had been completed. In addition to the Vela satellites, the IPN included 5 new space probes: the Russian Prognoz 7, in orbit around the earth, the German Helios 2, in elliptical orbit around the Sun, and NASA's Pioneer Venus Orbiter, Venera 11, and Venera 12, each of which orbited Venus.
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