Venera 11
Soviet Academy of Sciences | ||
COSPAR ID | 1978-084A 1978-084D | |
---|---|---|
SATCAT no. | 11020 11027 | |
Mission duration | Travel: 3 months and 16 days Lander: 95 minutes | |
Spacecraft properties | ||
Spacecraft | 4V-1 | |
Spacecraft type | 4V-1 No. 360[1] | |
Bus | 4MV | |
Launch mass | 4,447.3 kg (9,805 lb)[1] | |
BOL mass | 4,715 kg (10,395 lb) | |
Landing mass | 760 kg (1,680 lb) | |
Dimensions | 2.7 m × 2.3 m × 5.7 m (8.9 ft × 7.5 ft × 18.7 ft) | |
Start of mission | ||
Launch date | September 9, 1978 Proton-K/D-1 8K82K | , 03:25:39 UTC|
Launch site | Baikonur 81/23 | |
End of mission | ||
Last contact | February 1, 1980[1] | |
Orbital parameters | ||
Reference system | Semi-major axis 6,569 kilometers (4,082 mi) | |
Eccentricity | 0.0312 | |
Perigee altitude | 177 kilometers (110 mi) | |
Apogee altitude | 205 kilometers (127 mi) | |
Inclination | 51.5° | |
Flyby of Venus | ||
Spacecraft component | Venera 11 flight platform | |
Closest approach | 25 December 1978 | |
Distance | ~35,000 kilometers (22,000 mi) | |
Venus lander | ||
Spacecraft component | Venera 11 descent craft | |
Landing date | 25 December 1978, 03:24 | |
Landing site | 14°S 299°E / 14°S 299°E (near Phoebe Regio) | |
Venera → |
The Venera 11 (
Separating from its flight platform on December 23, 1978 the lander entered the
Flight platform
After ejection of the lander probe, the flight platform continued on past Venus in a heliocentric orbit. Near encounter with Venus occurred on December 25, 1978, at approximately 35,000 km altitude. The flight platform acted as a data relay for the descent craft for 95 minutes until it flew out of range and returned its own measurements on interplanetary space.[6]
Venera 11 flight platform carried solar wind detectors, ionosphere electron instruments and two
List of flight platform instruments and experiments:[7]
- 30–166 nm Extreme UV spectrometer
- Compound plasma spectrometer
- KONUS Gamma-rayburst detector
- SNEG Gamma-ray Burst detector
- Magnetometer
- 4 Semiconductor counters
- 2 Gas-discharge counters
- 4 Scintillation counters
- Hemispherical proton telescope
The mission ended in February, 1980. Venera 11 is currently in
of 284 days.Lander
The lander carried instruments to study the temperature and atmospheric and soil chemical composition. A device called Groza was intended to search for lightning on Venus. Both Venera 11 and Venera 12 had landers with two cameras, each designed for color imaging, though Soviet literature does not mention them. Each failed to return images when the lens covers did not separate after landing due to a design flaw. The soil analyzer also failed. A gas chromatograph was on board to measure the composition of the Venus atmosphere, as well as instruments to study scattered solar radiation. Results reported included some evidence of lightning,[8] a high Ar36/Ar40 ratio, and the discovery of carbon monoxide at low altitudes.[4]
List of lander experiments and instruments:
- Backscatter Nephelometer
- Mass spectrometer– MKh-6411
- Gas chromatograph– Sigma
- X-Ray fluorospectrometer
- 360° Scanning photometer – IOAV
- Spectrometer (430–1170 nm)
- Microphone/anemometer
- Low-frequency radio sensor
- 4 Thermometers
- 3 Barometers
- Accelerometer – Bizon
- Penetrometer – PrOP-V
- Soil analysis device
- 2 Color cameras
- Small solar batteries – MSB
See also
References
- ^ LCCN 2017059404. SP2018-4041.
- ^ "Venera 11". Archived from the original on 2015-01-21. Retrieved 2012-12-10.
- ^ a b "Venera 11 Descent Craft Launch and Orbital Information". NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive. Retrieved November 6, 2019.
- ^ a b "Venera 11 Descent Craft". NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive. Retrieved November 6, 2019.
- ^ "Venera 11 – Detail". Archived from the original on 2019-11-09. Retrieved 2012-12-10.
- ^ "Venera 11". NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive. Retrieved November 6, 2019.
- ^ Mitchell, Don P. "Drilling into the Surface of Venus". Retrieved 13 April 2013.
- ISSN 2197-4284.
External links
- Venera 11 & Venera 12 (NASA) - Shows Venera 13 mockup at the Cosmos Pavillion in Moscow.
- Drilling into the Surface of Venus (Venera 11 and 12) - has two images of actual descent module