Venera 7
 Model of Venera 7 Descent Capsule |
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| Mission type | Lander |
|---|---|
| Launch date | August 17, 1970 |
| Launch vehicle | Molniya Booster Plus Upper Stage and Escape Stages |
| Mission duration | August 17, 1970 to December 15, 1970 |
| Satellite of | Venus |
| Orbital insertion date | Landed on December 15, 1970 |
| Orbital decay | N/A |
| COSPAR ID | 1970-060A |
| Mass | 1180 kg |
The Venera 7 (Russian: Венера-7) (manufacturer's designation: 3V (V-70)) was a Soviet spacecraft, part of the Venera series of probes to Venus. When it landed on the Venusian surface, it became the first man-made spacecraft to land successfully on another planet, and to transmit data from there back to Earth.[1]
The probe was launched from earth on August 17, 1970 at 05:38 UTC. It consisted of an interplanetary bus based on the 3MV system and a lander.[2] During the flight to Venus two in course corrections were made using the bus's on-board KDU-414 engine.[2]
It entered the atmosphere of Venus on December 15, 1970.[2] Unusually the lander remained attached to the interplanetary bus during the initial stages of atmospheric entry.[2] This was to allow the bus to cool the lander to -8°C for as long as possible.[2] The lander was ejected once atmospheric buffeting broke the interplanetary bus's lock-on with earth.[2] The parachute opened at a height of 60 km and atmospheric testing began with results showing the atmosphere to be 97% carbon dioxide.[2] During the descent the parachute appeared to fail, resulting in a more rapid than planned decent.[2] As a result the lander impacted with the surface of Venus at about 16.5 m/s at 05:37:10 UTC.[2] Landing coordinates are 5°S 351°E / 5°S 351°E.[3]
The probe appeared to go silent on impact.[2] However, recording tapes kept rolling.[4] A few weeks later, upon a reviewing of the tapes, another 23 minutes of very weak signals were found on them.[4] The spacecraft had landed on Venus, probably bounced onto its side on landing, and the medium gain antenna was not pointed correctly for strong signal transmission to Earth.[4] The only data returned from the surface was temperature data, which gave a reading of 475°C.[2]
See also [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ "Science: Onward from Venus". TIME. 8 February 1971. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Reeves, Robert (1994). The Superpower Space Race: An Explosive Rivalry through the Solar System. Plenum Press. pp. 211–215. ISBN 0-306-44768-1.
- ^ Patrick Moore, The data book of astronomy. CRC Press, 2000, p. 92.
See Table 5-5, Missions to Venus, 1961-2000. Landing near Navka Planitia - ^ a b c Larry Klaes, THE SOVIETS AND VENUS, PART 1, 1993.
External links [edit]
- Venera 7 NASA NSSDC Master Catalog Data
- Plumbing the Atmosphere of Venus
- Venera-7 - the first man-made object to transmit data from another planet[dead link]
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