Venera 8

Venera 8 landing capsule

Venera 8 (Russian: Венера-8) was a probe in the Soviet Venera program for the exploration of Venus. Image File history File links Venera_8. ... Image File history File links Venera_8. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Venera_8_capsule. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Venera_8_capsule. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Color image taken from the surface of Venus by the Soviet Venera 13 lander The Venera series of probes was developed by the USSR for the gathering of data from Venus. ... (*min temperature refers to cloud tops only) Atmospheric characteristics Atmospheric pressure 9. ...

• Launch time: 1972-03-27 at 04:15:01 UTC
• On-orbit dry mass: 1180 kg

Venera 8 was a Venus atmospheric probe and lander. Its instrumentation included temperature, pressure, and light sensors as well as an altimeter, gamma-ray spectrometer, gas analyzer, and radio transmitters. The spacecraft took 117 days to reach Venus with one mid-course correction on 6 April 1972, separating from the bus (which contained a cosmic ray detector, solar wind detector, and ultraviolet spectrometer) and entering the atmosphere on 22 July 1972 at 08:37 UT. A refrigeration system attached to the bus was used to pre chill the descent capsules interior prior to atmospheric entry in order to prolong its life on the surface. Descent speed was reduced from 41,696 km/h to about 900 km/h by aerobraking. The 2.5 meter diameter parachute opened at an altitude of 60 km. 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1972 calendar). ... March 27 is the 86th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (87th in leap years). ... Cosmic rays can loosely be defined as energetic particles originating outside of the Earth. ... The plasma in the solar wind meeting the heliopause For the British comic, see Solar Wind (comic). ... July 22 is the 203rd day (204th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 162 days remaining. ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1972 calendar). ... An artists conception of a spacecraft aerobraking Aerobraking is a technique used by spacecraft in which it uses drag within a planetary atmosphere to reduce its velocity relative to the planet. ...

Venera 8 transmitted data during the descent. A sharp decrease in illumination was noted at 35 to 30 km altitude and wind speeds of less than 1 km/s were measured below 10 km. Venera 8 landed at 09:32 UT within 150 km radius of 10.70° south, 335.25° east, in sunlight about 500 km from the morning terminator. The lander mass was 495 kg. It continued to send back data for 50 minutes, 11 seconds after landing before failing due to the harsh surface conditions. The probe confirmed the earlier data on the high Venus surface temperature and pressure (470 degrees Celsius, 90 atmospheres) returned by Venera 7, and also measured the light level as being suitable for surface photography, finding it to be similar to the amount of light on Earth on an overcast day with roughly 1 km visibility. The word terminator is from Latin and means roughly the finisher. ... Diagram of Venera-7 The Venera 7 (Russian: Венера-7) was launched as part of the Venera program by the Soviet Union. ...

Venera-8's photometer measurements showed for the first time that the Venusian clouds end at a high altitude, and the atmosphere was relatively clear from there down to the surface. An on-board gamma ray spectrometer measured the Uranium/Thorium/Potassium ratio of the surface rock, indicating it was similar to granite. In the broadest sense, a photometer is any instrument used to measure illuminance or irradiance. ... Source of image data: Los Alamos National Laboratory The Gamma Ray Spectrometer (GRS) uses the gamma-ray part of the spectrum to look for the presence of 20 elements from the periodic table, and is used in the exploration of Mars. ... General Name, Symbol, Number uranium, U, 92 Chemical series actinides Group, Period, Block n/a, 7, f Appearance silvery gray metallic; corrodes to a spalling black oxide coat in air Atomic mass 238. ... General Name, Symbol, Number thorium, Th, 90 Chemical series Actinides Group, Period, Block n/a, 7, f Appearance silvery white Atomic mass 232. ... General Name, Symbol, Number potassium, K, 19 Chemical series alkali metals Group, Period, Block 1, 4, s Appearance silvery white Atomic mass 39. ... Quarrying granite for the Mormon Temple, Utah Territory. ...

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Venera 8

• Plumbing the Atmosphere of Venus
• Venera 8 NASA NSSDC Master Catalog Data