NASA
sent two Pioneer spacecraft to Venus in
the year 1978. The Pioneer mission consisted
of two components, launched separately:
an Orbiter and a Multiprobe. The Pioneer
Venus Multiprobe carried one large and three
small atmospheric probes. The large probe
was released on November 16, 1978 and the
three small probes on November 20. All four
probes entered the Venus atmosphere on December
9, followed by the delivery vehicle.
Although not predictable
to survive the descent through the atmosphere,
one probe continued to function for 45 minutes
after reaching the surface. The Pioneer
Venus Orbiter was inserted into an elliptical
orbit around Venus on December 4, 1978.
It carried 17 experiments and operated until
the fuel used to sustain its orbit was exhausted
and atmospheric entry destroyed the spacecraft
in August 1992.
|
