Kosmos 359
Kosmos 359 was an unmanned Soviet probe launched on 22 August 1970.[2] The probe's intended purpose was to explore Venus, but an error caused the final-stage rocket to malfunction. This left the craft trapped in an elliptical orbit around Earth for 410 days before orbital decay and atmospheric entry.[3] Kosmos 359 was launched five days after Venera 7 and had an identical design; had the craft not suffered a mission-ending failure, it would have landed on Venus shortly after Venera 7.[4] To publicly acknowledge the failure of the attempted Venus lander would be a public relations disaster for the Soviet space program; after the mission failed, the Venera spacecraft was renamed Kosmos 359 in order to conceal the mishap from the public.[5]
| Mission type | Venus lander[1] |
|---|---|
| Operator | Lavochkin |
| COSPAR ID | 1970-065A |
| SATCAT no. | 04501 |
| Mission duration | Launch failure |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft type | 3MV |
| Manufacturer | Lavochkin |
| Launch mass | 1,180 kilograms (2,600 lb) |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 22 August 1970, 05:06:09 UTC |
| Rocket | Molniya-M 8K78M |
| Launch site | Baikonur 31/6 |
| End of mission | |
| Decay date | 6 November 1970 |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Low Earth |
| Eccentricity | 0.05041 |
| Perigee altitude | 210 kilometres (130 mi) |
| Apogee altitude | 910 kilometres (570 mi) |
| Inclination | 51.5 degrees |
| Period | 95.70 minutes |
Design
The lander was designed to be able to survive atmospheric pressures of up to 180 bars (18,000 kPa) and temperatures of 580 °C (1,076 °F).[6] This was significantly greater than what was expected to be encountered, but significant uncertainties as to the surface temperatures and pressure of Venus resulted in the designers opting for a large margin of error.[6] The degree of hardening added mass to the probe, which limited the amount of mass available for scientific instruments on the probe and the interplanetary bus.[6]
Rocket malfunction
After reaching orbit, the main upper stage engine ignited late and shut down early after running for only twenty-five seconds. The error was ultimately attributed to an error in the DC transformer of the power supply system.[5]
Experiments
Kosmos 359 carried a limited set of scientific instruments, including a solar wind detector, cosmic-ray detector, resistance thermometer, and aneroid barometer.[5]
See also
References
- Krebs, Gunter. "Interplanetary Probes". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
- Huntress, Wesley; Marov, Mikhail (2011). Soviet Robots in the Solar System. Chichester, UK: Praxis Publishing. p. 420. ISBN 978-1-4419-7897-4.
- Walker, Doreen M.C Walker (March 1974). "Analysis of the Orbit of 1970-65D, Cosmos 359 Rocket". Planetary and Space Science. 22 (3): 391–402. Bibcode:1974P&SS...22..391W. doi:10.1016/0032-0633(74)90072-5.
- Morov, V. I.; Bazilevsky, A. T. (2003). Space Science and Technology.
- Siddiqi, Asif A. (2018). Beyond Earth: A Chronicle of Deep Space Exploration, 1958–2016 (PDF). The NASA history series (second ed.). Washington, DC: NASA History Program Office. p. 82. ISBN 9781626830424. LCCN 2017059404. SP2018-4041.
- Huntress Jr, Wesley T.; Marov, Mikhail (2011). Soviet Robots in the Solar System Mission Technologies and Discoveries. Springer-Praxis. p. 235. ISBN 9781441978974.