Pioneer Venus project

Cloud structure in the Venusian atmosphere in 1979, revealed by ultraviolet observations by Pioneer Venus Orbiter

The Pioneer Venus project was part of the Pioneer program consisting of two spacecraft, the Pioneer Venus Orbiter and the Pioneer Venus Multiprobe, launched to Venus in 1978. The program was managed by NASA's Ames Research Center.

The Pioneer Venus Orbiter entered orbit around Venus on December 4, 1978, and performed observations to characterize the atmosphere and surface of Venus. It continued to transmit data until October 1992.

The Pioneer Venus Multiprobe deployed four small probes into the Venusian atmosphere on December 9, 1978. All four probes transmitted data throughout their descent to the surface. One probe survived landing and transmitted data from the surface for over an hour.

See also

• 1978 in spaceflight
• Vega program
• Venera program

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pioneer Venus project.

• NASA: Pioneer Venus Project Information
• Pioneer Venus Program Page by NASA's Solar System Exploration
• NSSDC Master Catalog: Spacecraft Pioneer Venus Probe Bus. (Other components of the mission have their own pages at this site too.)
• Several articles in Science (1979), 205, pages 41-121
• Kasprzak, W. T - The Pioneer Venus Orbiter: 11 years of data. (May 1, 1990) - NASA
• Art for the mission

Venus Geography General Arachnoid Atmosphere Dune fields Features Regions Regio Alpha Regio Asteria Regio Beta Regio Ovda Regio Terrae Aphrodite Terra Ishtar Terra Lada Terra Mountains and volcanoes Abeona Mons Akna Montes Anala Mons Artemis Corona Ba'het Corona Boala Corona Ciuacoatl Mons Fand Mons Fotla Corona Gula Mons Heng-O Corona Iaso Tholus Irnini Mons Jaszai Patera Maat Mons Maxwell Montes Nightingale Corona Onatah Corona Quetzalpetlatl Corona Pancake dome Renpet Mons Sacajawea Patera Sachs Patera Sapas Mons Santa Corona Scalloped margin dome Siddons Patera Sif Mons Skadi Mons Theia Mons Ushas Mons Zisa Corona List of coronae on Venus Plains and plateaus Guinevere Planitia Lakshmi Planum Sedna Planitia Canyons and valleys Aikhulu Chasma Artemis Chasma Baltis Vallis Dali Chasma Devana Chasma Diana Chasma Ganiki Chasma Craters Addams Adivar Agnesi Alcott Ariadne Aurelia Balch Barton Buck Cleopatra Cunitz Danilova De Lalande Dickinson Goeppert-Mayer Golubkina Grimke Guilbert Isabella Jeanne Maria Celeste Mariko Mead Meitner Merit Ptah Mona Lisa Nanichi Riley Ruth Stefania Wanda Wheatley Yablochkina Other Geodynamics Geology Surface features Venusquake Moons Neith (hypothetical moon) Astronomy General Aspects Orbit Phases Transits 1639 1769 1874 1882 2004 2012 Asteroids Venus-crosser asteroid 2002 VE68 Exploration Past Sputnik programme Sputnik 7 Venera program Venera 1 Sputnik 19 Sputnik 20 Sputnik 21 Kosmos 21 Venera 1964A Kosmos 27 Venera 2 Venera 3 Kosmos 96 Venera 4 Kosmos 167 Venera 5 Venera 6 Venera 7 Venera 8 Kosmos 482 Venera 9 Venera 10 Venera 11 Venera 12 Venera 13 Venera 14 Venera 15 Venera 16 Mariner program Mariner 1 Mariner 2 Mariner 5 Mariner 10 Zond program Zond 1 Pioneer Venus Pioneer Venus Orbiter/Pioneer 12 Pioneer Venus Multiprobe/Pioneer 13 Vega program Vega 1 Vega 2 Magellan Galileo Cassini–Huygens IKAROS MESSENGER Shin'en Venus Express Current Akatsuki Planned BepiColombo Venera-D Proposed DAVINCI European Venus Explorer Mercury-P Venus In Situ Explorer Venus orbiter mission VERITAS Proposed manned Colonization Inspiration Mars (flyby) Terraforming Other Artificial objects on Venus Related Cytherean Fiction Hesperus Life Mythology Phosphorus Venusians Book Category Commons Portal

Pioneer program Early missions Pioneer 0 Pioneer 1 Pioneer 2 Pioneer 3 Pioneer 4 Pioneer P-1 (W) Pioneer P-3 (X) Pioneer P-30 (Y) Pioneer P-31 (Z) Pioneer 5 (P-2) Later missions Pioneer 6, 7, 8, 9, and E Pioneer 10 Pioneer 11 Pioneer H Venus missions Pioneer Venus project Pioneer Venus Orbiter Pioneer Venus Multiprobe See also Pioneer plaque Pioneer anomaly

Spacecraft missions to Venus Orbiters Akatsuki Magellan Pioneer Venus Orbiter Venera 9 Venera 10 Venera 15 Venera 16 Venus Express Flybys Venera 1† Mariner 2 Zond 1† Venera 2† Mariner 5 Mariner 10 Venera 11 Venera 12 Venera 13 Venera 14 Vega 1 Vega 2 Galileo Cassini–Huygens MESSENGER IKAROS Shin-en† 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 Pioneer Venus Small Probes Balloon probes Vega 1 Vega 2 Failed at launch Tyazhely Sputnik Mariner 1 2MV-1 No.1 2MV-1 No.2 2MV-2 No.1 Kosmos 21 3MV-1 No.2 Kosmos 27 Kosmos 96 Kosmos 167 Kosmos 482 Planned flybys BepiColombo Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer Europa Multiple-Flyby Mission Proposed Orbiters & probes DAVINCI HAVOC Venera-D Venus In Situ Explorer Venus orbiter mission VERITAS Flybys Inspiration Mars Mercury-P Laplace-P Uranus orbiter and probe Cancelled TMK-Mavr Venus Orbiting Imaging Radar Vesta European Venus Explorer Program overviews Venera 3MV Mariner Pioneer Venus Vega Related Colonization Observations and explorations List of artificial objects on Venus List of missions Manned Venus Flyby Terraforming VeSpR Italics indicates active current missions. † indicates failure en-route or before any data returned.

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