Venera 12

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Venera 12
Venera 12 lander
Organization:	URSS
Mission type:	Flyby and Lander
Flyby date:	December 19, 1978
Satellite of:	Venus
Launch Date:	14 September 1978 02:25:13 UTC
Launch Vehicle:	Proton Booster Plus Upper Stage and Escape Stages
NSSDC ID:	1978-086A
Mass:	4940 kg
Periapsis:	6.62 RV (flight platform)
edit

The Venera 12 (Russian: Венера-12) was an USSR unmanned space mission to explore the planet Venus. Venera 12 was launched on 14 September 1978 at 02:25:13 UTC. Separating from its flight platform on December 19, 1978, the lander entered the Venus atmosphere two days later at 11.2 km/s. During the descent, it employed aerodynamic braking followed by parachute braking and ending with atmospheric braking. It made a soft landing on the surface at 06:30 Moscow time on 21 December after a descent time of approximately 1 hour. The touchdown speed was 7-8 m/s. Landing coordinates are 7° S 294° E. It transmitted data to the flight platform for 110 minutes after touchdown until the flight platform moved out of range. Identical instruments were carried on Venera 11 and 12.

[edit] Flight platform

Venera 12 flight platform carried solar wind detectors, ionosphere electron instruments and two gamma ray burst detectors - the Soviet-built KONUS and the French-built SIGNE 2. The SIGNE 2 detectors were simultaneously flown on Venera 12 and Prognoz 7 to allow triangulation of gamma ray sources. Venera 12 used its ultraviolet spectrometer to study Comet Bradfield on 13 February 1980.

List of flight platform instruments and experiments:

30-166 nm Extreme UV Spectrometer
Compound Plasma Spectrometer
KONUS Gamma-Ray Burst Detector
SNEG Gamma-Ray Burst Detector
Magnetometer
4 Semiconductor Counters
2 Gas-Discharge Counters
4 Scintillation Counters
Hemispherical Proton Telescope

The mission ended in April, 1980.

[edit] Lander

The Venera 12 descent craft carried instruments designed to study the detailed chemical composition of the atmosphere, the nature of the clouds, and the thermal balance of the atmosphere. Among the instruments on board was a gas chromatograph to measure the composition of the Venus atmosphere, instruments to study scattered solar radiation and soil composition, and a device named Groza which was designed to measure atmospheric electrical discharges. Results reported included evidence of lightning and thunder, a high Ar³⁶/Ar⁴⁰ ratio, and the discovery of carbon monoxide at low altitudes. Both Venera 11 and Venera 12 had landers with two cameras, each designed for color imaging. Each failed to return images when the lens covers did not separate after landing due to a design flaw.

List of lander experiments and instruments:

Backscatter Nephelometer
Mass Spectrometer
Gas Chromatograph
X-Ray Fluorospectrometer
360° Scanning Photometer
Spectrometer (430-1170 nm)
Microphone/Anemometer
Low-Frequency Radio Sensor
4 Thermometers
3 Barometer
Accelerometer
PROP-V Penetrometer
Soil Analysis Device
2 Color Cameras

Venera programme
1VA \| Venera 1 \| Sputnik 19 \| Sputnik 20 \| Sputnik 21 \| Cosmos 21 \| Venera 1964A \| Venera 1964B \| Cosmos 27 \| Venera 2 \| Venera 3 \| Cosmos 96 \| Venera 1965A \| Venera 4 \| Cosmos 167 \| Venera 5 \| Venera 6 \| Venera 7 \| Cosmos 359 \| Venera 8 \| Cosmos 482 \| Venera 9 \| Venera 10 \| Venera 11 \| Venera 12 \| Venera 13 \| Venera 14 \| Venera 15 \| Venera 16

Venus Spacecraft Missions v • d • e
Flybys: Venera 1 · Mariner 2 · Zond 1 · Venera 2 · Mariner 5 · Mariner 10 · Venera 11 · Venera 12 · Galileo · Cassini-Huygens · MESSENGER
Orbiters: Venera 9 · Venera 10 · Pioneer Venus Orbiter · Venera 15 · Venera 16 · Magellan probe · Venus Express
Descent probes: Venera 3 · Venera 4 · Venera 5 · Venera 6 · Pioneer Venus Multiprobe
Landers: Venera 7 · Venera 8 · Venera 9 · Venera 10 · Venera 11 · Venera 12 · Venera 13 · Venera 14 · Vega 1 · Vega 2
Balloon probes: Vega 1 · Vega 2
Future: PLANET-C · BepiColombo · Venera-D
See also: Venus · Exploration of Venus