Venera 7
Sergei Pavlovich Korolyov Museum of Cosmonautics | |||||||||||
Mission type | Venus lander | ||||||||||
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Operator | Lavochkin | ||||||||||
COSPAR ID | 1970-060A | ||||||||||
SATCAT no. | 4489 | ||||||||||
Mission duration | Orbiter: 53 years, 4 months and 9 days (in orbit) Lander: 23 minutes (final) | ||||||||||
Spacecraft properties | |||||||||||
Spacecraft | 4V-1 No. 630 | ||||||||||
Manufacturer | Lavochkin | ||||||||||
Launch mass | 1,180 kilograms (2,600 lb)[1] | ||||||||||
Landing mass | 500 kilograms (1,100 lb) | ||||||||||
Start of mission | |||||||||||
Launch date | 17 August 1970, 05:38:22[1] | UTC||||||||||
Rocket | Molniya 8K78M | ||||||||||
Launch site | Baikonur 31/6 | ||||||||||
End of mission | |||||||||||
Last contact | 15 December 1970, 06:00 | UTC||||||||||
Orbital parameters | |||||||||||
Reference system | Heliocentric | ||||||||||
Perihelionit altitude | 0.69 astronomical units (103,000,000 km) | ||||||||||
Apohelionit altitude | 1.01 astronomical units (151,000,000 km) | ||||||||||
Inclination | 2.0° | ||||||||||
Period | 287 days | ||||||||||
Venus lander | |||||||||||
Landing date | 15 December 1970, 05:37:10 UTC | ||||||||||
Landing site | 5°S 351°E / 5°S 351°E | ||||||||||
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Seal of Venera 7 Venera → |
Venera 7 (
Design
The lander was designed to be able to survive pressure of up to 18 megapascals (2,600 psi) and temperatures of 580 °C (1,076 °F).[4] This was much 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 a large margin of error.[4] This degree of hardening limited the amount of mass available for scientific instruments both on the probe itself and the interplanetary bus.[4] The interplanetary bus carried a solar-wind charged-particle detector and a cosmic-ray detector.[5] On the lander were temperature and pressure sensors as well as an accelerometer to measure atmospheric density.[6] The probe also carried a radar altimeter.[6]
Launch
The probe was launched from Earth on 17 August 1970, at 05:38
Landing
Venera 7 entered the
While the probe appeared to go silent on impact,[7] recording tapes kept rolling.[9] A few weeks later, upon review of the tapes by radio astronomer Oleg Rzhiga, another 23 minutes of very weak signals were found on them.[9][10] The spacecraft had landed on Venus, and probably bounced onto its side, leaving the medium gain antenna aimed incorrectly for proper signal transmission to Earth.[9]
The probe transmitted information to Earth for 53 minutes, which included about 20 minutes from the surface.[11] It was found that the temperature at the surface of Venus was 475 ± 20 °C (887 ± 36 °F).[7][11] Using this temperature and models of the atmosphere, a pressure of 9.0 ± 1.5 MPa (1,310 ± 220 psi) was calculated.[12] From the spacecraft's rapid halt (from falling to stationary inside 0.2 seconds), it was possible to conclude that the craft had hit a solid surface with low levels of dust.[12]
The probe provided information about the surface of Venus that could not be seen through its thick atmospheric veil. The spacecraft confirmed that humans cannot survive on the surface of Venus. It excluded the possibility that there is any liquid water on the planet.[11][7]
See also
Notes
- ^ a b Siddiqi 2018, p. 93.
- ^ "Science: Onward from Venus". Time. 8 February 1971. Archived from the original on 21 December 2008. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
- ^ Siddiqi 2018, pp. 1, 3.
- ^ a b c Huntress & Marov 2011, p. 235.
- ^ "Venera 7". NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive. NASA. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
- ^ a b c d e Huntress & Marov 2011, pp. 236–240.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Reeves 1994, pp. 211–215.
- ^ 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". Archived from the original on 29 September 2015. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
- ^ Harvey 2007, p. 114.
- ^ a b c "Итоги работы станции "Венера-7"". Galspace (in Russian).
- ^ a b Ulivi & Harland 2007, pp. 97–99.
References
- Harvey, Brian (2007). Russian Planetary Exploration History, Development, Legacy and Prospects. Springer-Praxis. ISBN 9780387463438.
- Huntress, Wesley T. Jr.; Marov, Mikhail Ya (2011). Soviet Robots in the Solar System Mission Technologies and Discoveries. Springer-Praxis. ISBN 9781441978974.
- Ulivi, Paolo; Harland, David M (2007). Robotic Exploration of the Solar System Part I: The Golden Age 1957–1982. Springer. ISBN 9780387493268.
- Reeves, Robert (1994). The Superpower Space Race: An Explosive Rivalry through the Solar System. Plenum Press. ISBN 0-306-44768-1.
- Siddiqi, Asif A. (2018). Beyond Earth: A Chronicle of Deep Space Exploration, 1958–2016 (PDF). The NASA history series (second ed.). Washington, DC: NASA History Program Office. LCCN 2017059404. SP2018-4041.
External links
- Venera 7 NASA NSSDC Master Catalog Data
- Plumbing the Atmosphere of Venus