Venera 6
Encyclopedia
Venera 6 (manufacturer's designation: 2V (V-69)) was a Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 spacecraft
Spacecraft
A spacecraft or spaceship is a craft or machine designed for spaceflight. Spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, earth observation, meteorology, navigation, planetary exploration and transportation of humans and cargo....

, launched from a Tyazheliy Sputnik (69-002C) on January 10, 1969 towards Venus
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. After the Moon, it is the brightest natural object in the night sky, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6, bright enough to cast shadows...

 to obtain atmospheric data. It had an on-orbit dry mass of 1130 kg.

The spacecraft was very similar to Venera 4
Venera 4
Venera 4 ) was a probe in the Soviet Venera program for the exploration of Venus. Venera-4 was the first successful probe to perform in-place analysis of the environment of another planet. It was also the first probe to land on another planet...

 although it was of a stronger design. When the atmosphere of Venus was approached, a capsule weighing 405 kg was jettisoned from the main spacecraft. This capsule contained scientific instruments.

During descent towards the surface of Venus, a parachute opened to slow the rate of descent. For 51 min on May 17, 1969, while the capsule was suspended from the parachute, data from the Venusian atmosphere were returned. It landed at .

The spacecraft also carried a medallion bearing the State Coat of Arms of the U.S.S.R.
Coat of arms of the Soviet Union
The State Emblem of the Soviet Union was adopted in 1923 and was used until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Although it technically is an emblem rather than a coat of arms, since it does not follow heraldic rules, in Russian it is called герб , the word used for a traditional coat of...

 and a bas-relief of V.I. Lenin to the night side of Venus.

Given the results from Venera 4, the Venera 5
Venera 5
Venera 5 was a probe in the Soviet space program Venera for the exploration of Venus.Venera 5 was launched from a Tyazheliy Sputnik towards Venus to obtain atmospheric data...

and Venera 6 landers contained new chemical analysis experiments tuned to provide more precise measurements of the atmosphere's components. Knowing the atmosphere was extremely dense, the parachutes were also made smaller so the capsule would reach its full crush depth before running out of power (as Venera-4 had done).
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK