Venera 4
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| Venera 4 | |
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| Image:Venera 4.jpg Venera-4 |
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| Organization: | USSR |
| Mission type: | Lander |
| Satellite of: | Venus |
| Orbital Insertion date: | Landed on October 18, 1967 |
| Launch Date: | June 12, 1967 at 02:40:00 UTC |
| Launch Vehicle: | Tyazheliy Sputnik (67-058B) |
| Mission Duration: | June 12, 1967 to October 18, 1967 |
| NSSDC ID: | 1967-058A |
| Mass: | 1106 kg |
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Venera 4 (Russian:Венера-4) was a probe in the Soviet Venera program for the exploration of Venus.
Venera 4 was launched from a Tyazheliy Sputnik (67-058B) towards the planet Venus with the announced mission of direct atmospheric studies. On October 18, 1967, the spacecraft entered the Venusian atmosphere and released two thermometers, a barometer, a radio altimeter, and atmospheric density gauge, 11 gas analyzers, and two radio transmitters operating in the DM waveband. The main bus, which had carried the capsule to Venus, carried a magnetometer, cosmic ray detectors, Lyman-alpha spectrometers for atomic hydrogen and oxygen, and charged particle (solar wind) traps. Signals were returned by the spacecraft, which braked and then deployed a parachute system after entering the Venusian atmosphere, until it reached an altitude of 24.96 km. Estimated landing place is somewhere near latitude 19° N, longitude 38° E.
Venera-4 was the first successful probe to perform in-place analysis of the environment of another planet. It provided the first chemical analysis of the Venusian atmosphere, showing it to be primarily carbon dioxide with a few percent of nitrogen. Although the capsule did not reach the surface, it provided the first direct measurements proving that Venus was extremely hot, and the atmosphere was far more dense than expected.
| Venera programme |
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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 |
| 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 | |
