List of missions to Venus
From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
As of 2013, the Soviet Union, United States, European Space Agency and Japan have conducted missions to Venus.
Spacecraft | Launch Date[1] | Nationality | Mission | Outcome | Remarks | Carrier rocket[2] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tyazhely Sputnik (1VA No.1) |
4 February 1961 | USSR | Impactor[3] | Launch failure | Power transformer failure, upper stage failed to ignite, never left LEO[3] | Molniya |
Venera 1 (1VA No.2) |
12 February 1961 | USSR | Impactor[3] | Spacecraft failure | Communications failure. Flyby on 19 May 1961 at less than 100,000 kilometres (62,000 mi); no data returned | Molniya |
Mariner 1 (P-37) |
22 July 1962 | United States | Flyby | Launch failure | Failed to orbit; destroyed by range safety following guidance failure[4] | Atlas-LV3 Agena-B |
2MV-1 No.1 | 25 August 1962 | USSR | Lander | Launch failure | Premature upper stage cutoff due to ullage motor malfunction; never left LEO[4] | Molniya |
Mariner 2 (P-38) |
27 August 1962 | United States | Flyby | Successful | Flyby on 14 December 1962 | Atlas-LV3 Agena-B |
2MV-1 No.2 | 1 September 1962 | USSR | Lander | Launch failure | Upper stage fuel valve failed to open, resulting in failure to ignite; never left LEO[4] | Molniya |
2MV-2 No.1 | 12 September 1962 | USSR | Flyby | Launch failure | Anomalous third stage cutoff resulted in air bubbles forming in fourth stage fuel; fourth stage shut down less than a second after ignition; failed to leave LEO[4] | Molniya |
3MV-1 No.2 | 19 February 1964 | USSR | Flyby | Launch failure | Third stage oxidiser leak caused propellant to freeze in feed lines, which subsequently cracked; failed to orbit[5] | Molniya-M |
Kosmos 27 (3MV-1 No.3) |
27 March 1964 | USSR | Flyby/Lander | Launch failure | Upper stage attitude control failure, never left LEO[5] | Molniya-M |
Zond 1 (3MV-1 No.4) |
2 April 1964 | USSR | Flyby/Lander | Spacecraft failure | Electronics shorted out, communications lost before flyby.[5] Flew past Venus on 14 July 1964. | Molniya-M |
Venera 2 (3MV-4 No.4) |
12 November 1965 | USSR | Flyby | Spacecraft failure | Flew past Venus on 27 February 1966, closest approach at 02:52 UTC. Communications lost after flyby, before any data could be returned.[6] | Molniya-M |
Venera 3 (3MV-3 No.1) |
16 November 1965 | USSR | Lander | Spacecraft failure | Communications lost as soon as spacecraft entered atmosphere on 1 March 1966, no data returned. | Molniya-M |
Kosmos 96 (3MV-4 No.6) |
23 November 1965 | USSR | Flyby | Launch failure | Third stage combustion chamber exploded, resulting in loss of control, upper stage failed to ignite; Never left LEO[6] | Molniya-M |
Venera 4 (4V-1 No.310) |
12 June 1967 | USSR | Lander | Partial failure | Returned atmospheric data during entry on 18 October 1967 but failed to reach surface intact[7] | Molniya-M |
Mariner 5 | 14 June 1967 | United States | Flyby | Successful | Flyby on 19 October 1967, closest approach at 17:34:56 UTC[7] | Atlas SLV-3 Agena-D |
Kosmos 167 (4V-1 No.311) |
17 June 1967 | USSR | Lander | Launch failure | Upper stage failed to ignite; turbopump cooling malfunction. Never left LEO[7] | Molniya-M |
Venera 5 (4V-1 No.330) |
5 January 1969 | USSR | Atmospheric | Successful | Entered atmosphere on 16 May 1969, operated for 53 minutes | Molniya-M |
Venera 6 (4V-1 No.331) |
10 January 1969 | USSR | Atmospheric | Successful | Entered atmosphere on 17 May 1969, operated for 51 minutes | Molniya-M |
Venera 7 (4V-1 No.630) |
17 August 1970 | USSR | Lander | Partial failure | Landed at 05:37:10 UTC on 15 December 1970, rolled upon landing and returned severely limited data | Molniya-M |
Kosmos 359 (4V-1 No.631) |
22 August 1970 | USSR | Lander | Launch failure | Never left LEO | Molniya-M |
Venera 8 (4V-1 No.670) |
27 March 1972 | USSR | Lander | Successful | Landed at 09:32 UTC on 22 July 1972 | Molniya-M |
Kosmos 482 (4V-1 No.671) |
31 March 1972 | USSR | Lander | Launch failure | Never left LEO | Molniya-M |
Mariner 10 | 3 November 1973 | United States | Flyby | Successful | Flyby on 4 February 1974; closest approach at 17:01 UTC; observed Venus and performed gravity assist to reach Mercury | Atlas SLV-3D Centaur-D1A |
Venera 9 (4V-1 No.660) |
8 June 1975 | USSR | Orbiter/Lander | Successful | Entered orbit on 20 October 1975; lander landed at 05:13 UTC on 22 October | Proton-K/D |
Venera 10 (4V-1 No.661) |
14 June 1975 | USSR | Orbiter/Lander | Successful | Entered orbit on 23 October 1975; lander landed at 05:17 UTC on 25 October | Proton-K/D |
Venera 11 (4V-1 No.360) |
9 September 1978 | USSR | Flyby/Lander | Mostly successful | Flyby on 25 December; Lander landed at 03:24 UTC the same day. Multiple instrument failures on lander | Proton-K/D-1 |
Venera 12 (4V-1 No.361) |
14 September 1978 | USSR | Flyby/Lander | Mostly successful | Lander landed at 03:20 UTC on 21 December 1975. Both cameras on lander failed | Proton-K/D-1 |
Pioneer Venus 1 (PV Orbiter) |
20 May 1978 | United States | Orbiter | Successful | Entered orbit on 4 December 1978, decayed on 22 October 1992 | Atlas SLV-3D Centaur-D1AR |
Pioneer Venus 2 (PV Multiprobe) |
8 August 1978 | United States | Atmospheric | Successful | Entered the atmosphere on 4 December 1978; consisted of five spacecraft, one of which briefly continued transmitting after reaching the surface | Atlas SLV-3D Centaur-D1AR |
Venera 13 (4V-1M No.760) |
30 October 1981 | USSR | Flyby/Lander | Successful | Lander landed at 03:20 UTC on 1 March 1982. | Proton-K/D-1 |
Venera 14 (4V-1M No.761) |
4 November 1981 | USSR | Flyby/Lander | Successful | Lander landed on 5 March 1982. | Proton-K/D-1 |
Venera 15 (4V-2 No.860) |
2 June 1983 | USSR | Orbiter | Successful | Entered orbit 10 October 1983, operated until July 1984 | Proton-K/D-1 |
Venera 16 (4V-2 No.861) |
7 June 1983 | USSR | Orbiter | Successful | Entered orbit 11 October 1983, operated until July 1984 | Proton-K/D-1 |
Vega 1 (5VK No.901) |
15 December 1984 | USSR | Flyby/Atmospheric/Lander | Successful | Landed 11 June 1985. Atmospheric probe deployed during entry operated for two days. Main bus continued to explore comet 1P/Halley | Proton-K/D-1 |
Vega 2 (5VK No.902) |
21 December 1984 | USSR | Flyby/Atmospheric/Lander | Successful | Landed 15 June 1985. Atmospheric probe deployed during entry operated for two days. Main bus continued to explore comet 1P/Halley | Proton-K/D-1 |
Magellan | 4 May 1989 | United States | Orbiter | Successful | Entered orbit 10 October 1990, deorbited 13 October 1994 | Space Shuttle Atlantis STS-30 / IUS |
Galileo | 18 October 1989 | United States | Gravity assist | N/A | Flyby on 10 February 1990 en route to Jupiter | Space Shuttle Atlantis STS-34 / IUS |
Cassini–Huygens | 15 October 1997 | United States and the European Space Agency | Gravity assist | N/A | Flybys on 26 April 1998 and 24 June 1999 en route to Saturn | Titan IV(401)B |
MESSENGER | 3 August 2004 | United States | Gravity assist | N/A | Flybys on 24 October 2006 and 5 June 2007 en route to Mercury | Delta II 7925H |
Venus Express | 9 November 2005 | European Space Agency | Orbiter | Successful | Entered orbit 11 April 2006. Full communications lost on the 28th of November 2014 [8] | Soyuz-FG/Fregat |
Akatsuki | 20 May 2010 | Japan | Orbiter | Successful on second attempt | Flew past Venus on 6 December 2010 after failing to enter orbit. Insertion was successfully reattempted on 7 December 2015. | H-IIA 202 |
IKAROS | 20 May 2010 | Japan | Flyby | Successful | Experimental solar sail. Flew past Venus on 8 December 2010 | H-IIA 202 |
Shin'en | 20 May 2010 | Japan | Flyby | Spacecraft failure | Communications never established after launch. Flew past Venus in December 2010 | H-IIA 202 |
References
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- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ http://sci.esa.int/venus-express/55141-venus-express-goes-gently-into-the-night/
External links
- Popular Science - February 2003 - Is There Life on Venus? (Google Books link)