Kosmos 359

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Kosmos 359
Mission type Venus lander [1]
Operator Lavochkin
COSPAR ID 1970-065A OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
SATCAT no. 04501
Mission durationLaunch failure
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type 3MV
Manufacturer Lavochkin
Launch mass1,180 kilograms (2,600 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date22 August 1970, 05:06:09 (1970-08-22UTC05:06:09Z) UTC
Rocket Molniya-M 8K78M
Launch site Baikonur 31/6
End of mission
Decay date6 November 1970 (1970-11-07Z)
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
  Venera 7
Venera 8  
 

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]

Contents

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

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References

  1. Krebs, Gunter. "Interplanetary Probes". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  2. Huntress, Wesley; Marov, Mikhail (2011). Soviet Robots in the Solar System. Chichester, UK: Praxis Publishing. p. 420. ISBN   978-1-4419-7897-4.
  3. 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.
  4. Morov, V. I.; Bazilevsky, A. T. (2003). Space Science and Technology.
  5. 1 2 3 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.
  6. 1 2 3 Huntress Jr, Wesley T.; Marov, Mikhail (2011). Soviet Robots in the Solar System Mission Technologies and Discoveries. Springer-Praxis. p. 235. ISBN   9781441978974.