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| Venera 8 - Venera 3V (V-72). Others in the 3V / 3MV series had a similar appearance. Credit: NASA. 34,211 bytes. 338 x 362 pixels. |
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Manufacturer's Designation: 3MV-4. Class: Planetary. Type: Venus. Nation: USSR. Manufacturer: Lavochkin. Carried a TV system and scientific instruments.
SpecificationTotal Mass: 960 kg.
Venera 3MV-4 Chronology
12 November 1965
Venera 2 Program: Venera. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Molniya 8K78M. Mass: 962 kg. Venera 2 was launched towards the planet Venus and carried a TV system and scientific instruments. On February 27, 1966, the spacecraft passed Venus at a distance of 24,000 km and entered a heliocentric orbit. The spacecraft system had ceased to operate before the planet was reached and returned no data.
23 November 1965
Cosmos 96 Program: Venera. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Molniya 8K78M. FAILURE: At T+528 sec, during the final thrust phase of the Block I's 8D715K engine, one of the combustion chambers blew up due to a tear in the fuel pipeline. This resulted in an abnormal separation of the upper stages. Mass: 960 kg. Perigee: 222 km. Apogee: 296 km. Inclination: 51.9 deg. The escape stage Block L entered parking orbit tumbling and was not able to operate properly.
Bibliography:- 2 - McDowell, Jonathan, The United Nations Registry of Space Objects, Harvard University, 1997. HTML when accessed: http://hea-www.harvard.edu/QEDT/jcm/space/un/un.html
- 6 - JPL Mission and Spacecraft Library, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 1997. HTML when accessed: http://msl.jpl.nasa.gov/home.html
- 64 - Varfolomyev, Timothy, Spaceflight, "Soviet Rocketry that Conquered Space - Part 5", 1998, Volume 40, page 85.
- 65 - Novosti Kosmonavtiki, "Otmenenniy Start "Molniya-M"", 1997, Issue 1, page 29.
- 296 - National Space Science Center Planetary Page, As of 19 February 1999.. HTML when accessed: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/planetary_home.html
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Last update 12 March 2001.
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© Mark Wade, 2001 .