Pioneer Venus Orbiter |
|
| Operator | Ames Research Center - NASA |
|---|---|
| Mission type | Orbiter |
| Satellite of | Venus |
| Orbital insertion date | December 4, 1978 |
| Launch date | May 20, 1978 |
| Launch vehicle | Atlas-Centaur |
| Mission duration | May 20, 1978, through August, 1992 |
| Orbital decay | August, 1992 |
| COSPAR ID | 1978-051A |
| Homepage | National Space Science Data Center (NASA) |
| Mass | 517 kg |
| Power | 312 watts |
| Orbital elements | |
| Eccentricity | .842 |
| Inclination | 105° |
| Apoapsis | 1.03 RV |
| Periapsis | 12.01 RV |
| Orbital period | 24 hours |
Pioneer Venus Orbiter or Pioneer Venus 1 was inserted into an elliptical orbit around Venus on December 4, 1978. The Orbiter was a flat cylinder, 2.5 m in diameter and 1.2 m high. All instruments and spacecraft subsystems were mounted on the forward end of the cylinder, except the magnetometer, which was at the end of a 4.7 m boom. A solar array extended around the circumference of the cylinder. A 1.09 m despun dish antenna provided S and X band communication with Earth. It was manufactured by Hughes Aircraft Company.
Read more about this topic: Pioneer Venus Project
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