TheVenera (Russian:Вене́ра,pronounced[vʲɪˈnʲɛrə] 'Venus') program was a series ofspace probes developed by theSoviet Union between 1961 and 1984 to gather information about the planetVenus.
Thirteen probes successfully entered theVenusian atmosphere, including the twoVenera-Halley probes. Ten of those successfully landed on the surface of the planet. Due to the extreme conditions, the probes could only survive for a short period on the surface, from 23 minutes to two hours.[1]
TheVenera program established a number of precedents in space exploration, among them being the first human-made devices to enter the atmosphere of another planet (Venera 3 on 1 March 1966), the first to make asoft landing on another planet (Venera 7 on 15 December 1970), the first to return images from another planet's surface (Venera 9 on 8 June 1975), the first to record sounds on another planet (Venera 13 on 30 October 1981), and the first to perform high-resolutionradar mapping scans (Venera 15 on 2 June 1983).
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The first Soviet attempt at a flyby probe to Venus was launched on 4 February 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 nameTyazhely Sputnik ("Heavy Satellite"). It is also known as Venera 1VA.[2]
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 andVenera 2 were intended to fly past Venus without entering orbit. Venera 1 was launched on 12 February 1961. Telemetry on the probe failed seven days after launch. It is believed to have passed within 100,000 km (62,000 mi) of Venus and remains in heliocentric orbit. Venera 2 launched on 12 November 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,[3][4] but were not announced as planetary missions at the time, and hence did not officially receive the "Venera" designation.
The Venera 3 to 6 probes were similar. Weighing approximately one ton, and launched by theMolniya-type booster rocket, they included a cruise "bus" and a spherical atmospheric entry probe. The probes were optimised for atmospheric measurements, but not equipped with any special landing apparatus. Although it was hoped they would reach the surface still functioning, the first probes failed almost immediately, thereby disabling data transmission to Earth.
Venera 3 became the first human-made object to impact another planet's surface as it crash-landed on 1 March 1966. However, as the spacecraft's data probes had failed upon atmospheric penetration, no data from within the Venusian atmosphere were retrieved from the mission.
On 18 October 1967,Venera 4 became the first spacecraft to measure the atmosphere of another planet. This spacecraft first showed the major gas of Venus's atmosphere to be CO2.[5] While theSoviet Union initially claimed the craft reached the surface intact, re-analysis, including atmosphericoccultation data from the AmericanMariner 5 spacecraft that flew by Venus the day after its arrival, demonstrated that Venus's surface pressure was 75–100 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 launchedVenera 5 andVenera 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.
Around that time it became increasingly known that Venus was unlikely to have liquid bodies of water, however the designs for the SovietVenera probes still considered the possibility of a water landing as late as 1964.[6]: xiii
TheVenera 7 probe, launched in August 1970, was the first one designed to survive Venus's surface conditions and to make asoft landing. Massively overbuilt to ensure survival, it had few experiments on board, and scientific output from the mission was further limited due to an internal switchboard failure that stuck in the "transmit temperature" position. Still, the control scientists succeeded in extrapolating the pressure (90 atm) from the temperature data with 465 °C (869 °F), which resulted from the first direct surface measurements. The Doppler measurements of the Venera 4 to 7 probes were the first evidence of the existence of zonal winds with high speeds of up to 100 metres per second (330 ft/s, 362 km/h, 225 mph) in the Venusian atmosphere (super rotation). Along with the pressure and temperature data acquired Venera 7 also measured atmospheric composition.[7][5]
Venera 7's parachute failed shortly before landing very close to the surface. It impacted at 17 metres per second (56 ft/s) and toppled over, but survived. This caused antenna misalignment making the radio signal very weak, but it was detected (with temperature telemetry) for 23 more minutes before its batteries expired. Thus, it became, on 15 December 1970, the first human-made probe to transmit data from the surface of Venus.
Venera 8, launched in 1972, was equipped with an extended set of scientific instruments for studying the surface (gamma-spectrometer etc.). The cruise bus of Venera 7 and 8 was similar to that of earlier ones, with the design ascending to theZond 3 mission. The lander transmitted data during the descent and landed in sunlight. It measured the light level but had no camera. It transmitted data for almost an hour.
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Following the failedKosmos 482, the 1975 Venera 9 and 10 probes and 1978 Venera 11 and 12 probes were of a different design. They weighed approximately five tons and were launched by the powerfulProton booster. They included a transfer and relay bus that had engines to brake into Venus orbit and to serve as receiver and relay for the entry probe's transmissions. The entry probe was attached to the top of the bus in a spherical heat shield. The probes were optimized for surface operations with an unusual design that included a spherical compartment to protect the electronics from atmospheric pressure and heat for as long as possible. Beneath this was a shock-absorbing "crush ring" for landing. Above the pressure sphere was a cylindrical antenna structure and a wide, dish-shaped structure that resembled an antenna but was actually an aerobrake. They were designed to operate on the surface for a minimum of 30 minutes. Instruments varied on different missions, but included cameras and atmospheric and soil analysis equipment. All four landers had problems with some or all of their camera lens caps not releasing.
TheVenera 9 lander operated for at least 53 minutes and took pictures with one of two cameras; the other lens cap did not release. These were the first pictures ever taken on the surface of another planet.
TheVenera 10 lander operated for at least 65 minutes and took pictures with one of two cameras; the other lens cap did not release.
TheVenera 11 lander operated for at least 95 minutes but neither camera's lens cap released.
TheVenera 12 lander operated for at least 110 minutes but neither camera's lens cap released.
Venera 13 and 14 (1981–82) each had a descent craft/lander that contained most of the instrumentation and electronics, and a flyby spacecraft that was used as a communications relay. The design was similar to the earlier Venera 9–12 landers. They carried instruments to take scientific measurements of the ground and atmosphere once landed, including cameras, a microphone, a drill and surface sampler, and a seismometer. They also had instruments to record electric discharges during its descent phase through the Venusian atmosphere.
The two descent craft landed about 950 km (590 mi) apart, just east of the eastern extension of an elevated region known asPhoebe Regio. The Venera 13 lander survived for 127 minutes, and the Venera 14 lander for 57 minutes, where the planned design life was only 32 minutes. The Venera 14 craft had the misfortune of ejecting the camera lens cap directly under the surface compressibility tester arm, and returned information for the compressibility of the lens cap rather than the surface. The descent vehicles transmitted data to the buses, which acted as data relays as they flew by Venus.
The 1983Venera 15 and 16 spacecraft were orbiter missions, similar to previous probes, but the entry probes were replaced with surface imaging radar equipment. Radar imaging was necessary to penetrate the dense cloud of Venus and both missions included identical synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and radio altimeter systems. The SAR system was crucial in the mapping efforts of the mission and featured an 8-month operational tour to capture Venus's surface at a resolution of 1 to 2 kilometers (0.6 to 1.2 miles).[8] When the system was switched to radio altimeter mode the antenna operated at an 8-centimeter wavelength band to send and receive signals off of the Venusian surface over a period of 0.67 milliseconds.
The results were a detailed map of the reflectivity distribution over the surface of the Venusian Northern Hemisphere. The linear distance measurements that were taken ranged from 91 to 182 kilometers. The twin Soviet spacecraft flew in near-polar elliptical orbits and succeeded in mapping the top half of the northern atmosphere (from the north pole to 30 degrees N latitude, about 115 million square kilometers or 71 million square miles) by the end of the main mission. An altimeter provided topographical data with a height resolution of 50 m (164 feet), and an East German instrument mapped surface temperature variations.[9]
TheVeGa (Cyrillic: ВеГа) probes to Venus andcomet 1/P Halley launched in 1984 also used this basic Venera design, including landers but also atmospheric balloons which relayed data for about two days. "VeGa" is aportmanteau of the words "Venera" (Venus in Russian) and "Gallei" (Halley in Russian).
Venera-D is a proposed mission to Venus that would include a highly capable orbiter and a lander. From the standpoint of total mass delivered to Venus, the best launch opportunities occur in 2026 and 2031;[10] however, as of March 2021, Venera-D is planned for launch no earlier than November 2029.[11] Venera-D could incorporate some NASA components, including balloons, a subsatellite forplasma measurements, or a long-lived (24 hours) surface station on the lander.[12][13][14]
There were many scientific findings from the data retrieved by the Venera probes making them pivotal in our understanding of Venus. The Venera probes provided direct data regarding Venus's surface and atmosphere while also providing important information on electronics lifetime under Venus's harsh conditions. Venera 4 was the first successful probe, and showed that CO2 is the main component in Venus's atmosphere.[15][5] Venera 7 found the temperature and pressure data as well as the atmospheric composition.[5][16] Venera 8 measured the K, U, and Th on the surface throughgamma-ray analysis.[5] Venera 9 provided the first images of the surface of Venus as well as more gamma-ray analysis.[17] By sending the first images of Venus's surface back to Earth the Venera missions provided scientists with the ability to relay the achievements with the public. Venera 13 provided the first color images and X-ray fluorescence data of the surface of the planet. After analyzing the radar images returned from Venera 15 and 16, it was concluded that the ridges and grooves on the surface of Venus were the result oftectonic deformations.[18] This was found by radar imaging while in orbit. Even with their short lifetimes, the Venera missions each added significant understanding of our sister planet.
| Model | Type | First Launch | Last Launch | Missions (success/ total) | Launch Vehicle | Mass | Equipment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1VA | Impact | 4 Feb 1961 | 12 Feb 1961 | 0 / 2 | Molniya | 643.5 kg (1,419 lb) | 5 scientific instruments |
| 2MV-1 | Flyby and atmospheric probe | 25 Aug 1962 | 1 Sep 1962 | 0 / 2 | Molniya | 1,097 kg (2,418 lb) | 11 scientific instruments |
| 2MV-2 | Flyby | 12 Sep 1962 | 12 Sep 1962 | 0 / 1 | Molniya | 890 kg (1,960 lb) | 10 scientific instruments |
| 3MV-1 and 1A | 19 Feb 1964 | 2 Apr 1964 | 0 / 3 | Molniya | 948 kg (2,090 lb) and 800 kg (1,800 lb) (1A) | 10 scientific instruments | |
| 3MV-4 | 12 Nov 1965 | 23 Nov 1965 | 0 / 2 | Molniya-M | 963 kg (2,123 lb) | 11 scientific instruments | |
| 3MV-3 | Atmospheric probe andlander | 16 Nov 1965 | 16 Nov 1965 | 0 / 1 | Molniya-M | 958 kg (2,112 lb) | 10 scientific instruments |
| 1V | 12 Jun 1967 | 17 Jun 1967 | 1 / 2 | Molniya-M | 1,106 kg (2,438 lb) | 8 scientific instruments | |
| 2V | 5 Jan 1969 | 10 Jan 1969 | 2 / 2 | Molniya-M | 1,130 kg (2,490 lb) | 8 scientific instruments | |
| 3V | 17 Aug 1970 | 31 Mar 1972 | 2 / 4 | Molniya-M | 1,180 kg (2,600 lb) | 5 or 9 scientific instruments | |
| 4V-1 and 1M | Orbiter and lander | 22 Oct 1975 | 4 Nov 1981 | 6 / 6 | Proton-K | 4,363 kg (9,619 lb) 5,033 kg (11,096 lb) | 16 and 21 scientific instruments |
| 4V-2 | Orbiter | 2 Jun 1983 | 7 Jun 1983 | 2 / 2 | Proton-K | 5,250 kg (11,570 lb) 5,300 kg (11,700 lb) | 7 scientific instruments withradar |
| Name | Model | Mission | Launch | Arrival | Survival timemin | Results | Image | Landercoordin. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venera 1VA No. 1 | 1VA No. 1 | Impactor | 4 February 1961 | — | — | Failed to leaveearth orbit | — | |
| Venera 1 | 1VA No. 2 | Impactor | 12 February 1961 | — | — | Communications lost en route to Venus | | — |
| Venera 2MV-1 No.1 | 2MV-1 No.1 | Atmospheric probe | 25 August 1962 | — | — | Escape stage failed; Re-entered three days later |  | — |
| Venera 2MV-1 No.2 | 2MV-1 No.2 | Atmospheric probe | 1 September 1962 | — | — | Escape stage failed; Re-entered five days later | — | |
| Venera 2MV-2 No.1 | 2MV-2 No.1 | Flyby | 12 September 1962 | — | — | Third stage exploded; Spacecraft destroyed | — | |
| Venera 3MV-1 No.2 | 3MV-1 No.2 | Flyby | 19 February 1964 | — | — | Did not reachparking orbit | — | |
| Kosmos 27 | 3MV-1 No.3 | Flyby | 27 March 1964 | — | — | Escape stage failed | — | |
| Venera 2 | 3MV-4 No.4 | Flyby | 12 November 1965 | — | — | Communications lost just before arrival |  | — |
| Venera 3 | 3MV-3 No.1 | Atmospheric probe | 16 November 1965 | — | — | Communications lost just before atmospheric entry. This was the first manmade object to land on another planet on 1 March 1966 (crash). Probable landing region: -20° to 20° N, 60° to 80° E. | — | |
| Kosmos 96 | 3MV-4 No.6 | Atmospheric probe | 23 November 1965 | — | — | Failed to leave Earth orbit and reentered the atmosphere. Believed by some researchers to have crashed nearKecksburg, Pennsylvania, USA on 9 December 1965, an event which became known as the"Kecksburg Incident" amongUFO researchers. All Soviet spacecraft that never left Earth orbit were customarily renamed "Kosmos", regardless of the craft's intended mission. The name is also given to other Soviet/Russian spacecraft that are intended to—and do reach Earth orbit. | — | |
| Venera 4 | 4V-1 No.310 | Atmospheric probe | 12 June 1967 | 18 October 1967 | — | The first probe to enter another planet's atmosphere and return data. Although it did not transmit from the surface, this was the first interplanetary transmission of any probe. Landed somewhere near latitude 19° N, longitude 38° E. | _(1).JPG) | — |
| Kosmos 167 | 4V-1 No.311 | Atmospheric probe | 17 June 1967 | — | — | Escape stage failed; Re-entered eight days later | — | |
| Venera 5 | 2V (V-69) No. 330 | Atmosphericprobe | 5 January 1969 | 16 May 1969 | 53* | Successfully returned atmospheric data before being crushed by pressure within 26 kilometres (16 mi) of the surface. Landed at 3° S, 18° E. | — | |
| Venera 6 | 2V (V-69) No.331 | Atmosphericprobe | 10 January 1969 | 17 May 1969 | 51* | Successfully returned atmospheric data before being crushed by pressure within 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) of the surface. Landed at 5° S, 23° E. | — | |
| Venera 7 | 4V-1 No. 630 | Lander | 17 August 1970 | 15 December 1970 | 23 | The first successful landing of a spacecraft on another planet, and the first transmission from another planet's surface. Survived for 23 minutes before succumbing to heat and pressure. |  | 5°S351°E / 5°S 351°E /-5; 351 |
| Kosmos 359 | 3V (V-70) | Lander | 22 August 1970 | — | — | Escape stage failed; Ended up in an elliptical Earth orbit[20] | — | — |
| Venera 8 | 4V-1 No.670 | Lander | 27 March 1972 | 22 July 1972 | 50 | Landed within a 150-kilometre (93 mi) radius of 10.70° S, 335.25° E. | 10°S335°E / 10°S 335°E /-10; 335 | |
| Kosmos 482 | 3V (V-72) no. 671 | Probe | 31 March 1972 | — | — | Escape stage exploded during Trans-Venus injection; Some pieces re-entered and others remained in Earth orbit, until May 2025 where it re-entered the Earth's atmosphere[20] | — | — |
| Venera 9 | 4V-1 No. 660 | Orbiter andLander | 8 June 1975 | 22 October 1975 | 53 | Sent back the first (black and white) images of Venus's surface. Landed within a 150-kilometre (93 mi) radius of 31.01° N, 291.64° E. |  | 31°N291°E / 31°N 291°E /31; 291 |
| Venera 10 | 4V-1 No. 661 | Orbiter andLander | 14 June 1975 | 25 October 1975 | 65 | Landed within a 150-kilometre (93 mi) radius of 15.42° N, 291.51° E. |  | 15°42′N291°51′E / 15.700°N 291.850°E /15.700; 291.850 |
| Venera 11 | 4V-1 No. 360 | Flyby andLander | 9 September 1978 | 25 December 1978 | 95 | The lander arrived, but the imaging systems failed. | 14°S299°E / 14°S 299°E /-14; 299 | |
| Venera 12 | 4V-1 | Flyby andLander | 14 September 1978 | 21 December 1978 | 110 | The lander recorded what is thought to be lightning. | 07°S294°E / 7°S 294°E /-7; 294 | |
| Venera 13 | 4V-1 no.760 | Flyby andLander | 30 October 1981 | 1 March 1982 | 127 | Returned the first colour images of Venus's surface, and discoveredleucite basalt in a soil sample using aspectrometer. | 07°05′S303°00′E / 7.083°S 303.000°E /-7.083; 303.000 | |
| Venera 14 | 4V-1 No. 761 | Flyby andLander | 4 November 1981 | 5 March 1982 | 57 | A soil sample revealedtholeiitic basalt (similar to that found on Earth's mid-ocean ridges). | 13°25′S310°00′E / 13.417°S 310.000°E /-13.417; 310.000 | |
| Venera 15 | 4V-2 No. 860 | Orbiter | 2 June 1983 | 10 October 1983 | — | Mapped (along with Venera 16) the northern hemisphere down to 30 degrees from North (resolution1–2 km) | — | |
| Venera 16 | 4V-2 | Orbiter | 7 June 1983 | 14 October 1983 | — | Mapped (along with Venera 15) the northern hemisphere down to 30 degrees from North (resolution1–2 km) | — | |
| Vega 1 | 5VK No. 902 | Flyby and Lander | 15 December 1984 | 11 June 1985 | — | Part of theVega program. The vessel was en route toHalley's Comet. During entry into atmosphere, the surface instruments began work early, and the lander failed. |  | 07°05′N177°07′E / 7.083°N 177.117°E /7.083; 177.117 |
| Vega 2 | 5VK No. 901 | Flyby andLander | 21 December 1984 | 15 June 1985 | 56 | Part of theVega program. The vessel was en route toHalley's Comet. | | 08°05′S177°07′E / 8.083°S 177.117°E /-8.083; 177.117 |
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
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