--------------------------------------------------------- NSSDC Master Catalog Display Spacecraft --------------------------------------------------------- Pioneer Venus Orbiter NSSDC ID: 78-051A Other Name(s) * Pioneer Venus 1 * Pioneer Venus 1978 Orbit * PVO * Pioneer 12 * 10911 --------------------------- Launch Date/Time: 1978-05-20 at 13:13:00 UTC On-orbit dry mass: 517.00 kg Nominal Power Output: 312.00 W --------------------------- Description The Pioneer Venus Orbiter was the first of a two-spacecraft orbiter-probe combination designed to conduct a comprehensive investigation of the atmosphere of Venus. The spacecraft was a solar-powered cylinder about 250 cm in diameter with its spin axis spin-stabilized perpendicular to the ecliptic plane. A high-gain antenna was mechanically despun to remain focused on the earth. The instruments were mounted on a shelf within the spacecraft except for a magnetometer mounted at the end of a boom to ensure against magnetic interference from the spacecraft. Pioneer Venus Orbiter measured the detailed structure of the upper atmosphere and ionosphere of Venus, investigated the interaction of the solar wind with the ionosphere and the magnetic field in the vicinity of Venus, determined the characteristics of the atmosphere and surface of Venus on a planetary scale, determined the planet's gravitational field harmonics from perturbations of the spacecraft orbit, and detected gamma-ray bursts. UV observations of comets have also been made. From Venus orbit insertion on December 4, 1978 to July 1980 periapsis was held between 142 and 253 km to facilitate radar and ionospheric measurements. Thereafter, the periapsis was allowed to rise (to 2290 km at maximum) and then fall, to conserve fuel. In 1991 the Radar Mapper was reactivated to investigate previously inaccessible southern portions of the planet. In May 1992 Pioneer Venus began the final phase of its mission, in which the periapsis was held between 150 and 250 km until the fuel ran out and atmospheric entry destroyed the spacecraft the following August. For further details see Colin, L. and Hunten, D. M., Space Science Reviews 20, 451, 1977. ------------------- Discipline(s) Planetary Science Solar Physics Space Physics Sponsoring Agencies/Countries NASA-Office of Space Science Applications/United States --------------------------------------------------------- NSSDC Master Catalog Display Spacecraft Launch/Orbital Information --------------------------------------------------------- Pioneer Venus Orbiter NSSDC ID: 78-051A Launch Information Launch Date/Time: 1978-05-20 at 13:13:00 UTC Launch Site/Country: Cape Canaveral, United States Launch Vehicle: Atlas-Centaur Orbital Information Orbit: Orbiter Central Body: Venus Epoch start date/time: 1979.326:16:53:20 (22 Nov.) Orbital Period: 24.00 h Inclination: 105.00 degrees Eccentricity: 0.84200 Periapsis: 12.01 RV Apoapsis: 1.03 RV ------------------- --------------------------------------------------------- NSSDC Master Catalog Display Spacecraft Personnel --------------------------------------------------------- Pioneer Venus Orbiter NSSDC ID: 78-051A Program Manager Mr. A. C. Merwarth NASA Headquarters Washington, DC 20546 ----- Program Scientist Mr. Henry C. Brinton Code SR NASA Headquarters Washington, DC 20546 ----- Project Manager Mr. Richard O. Fimmel Mail Stop 244-8 NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA 94035 ----- Project Scientist Dr. Lawrence Colin MS 245-1 Space Science Division NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA 94035 ----- NSSDC Contact Dr. David R. Williams Hughes STX Corporation 7701 Greenbelt Road Suite 400 Greenbelt, MD 20770 Electronic Mail DWILLIAMS@NSSDCA.GSFC.NASA.GOV (INTERNET) NSSDCA::WILLIAMS (NSI/DECNET) ----- General Contact Mr. John W. Dyer Code S5P Mail Stop 244-8 NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA 94035 ----- Mr. Robert W. Jackson Mail Stop 244-8 NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA 94035 ----- --------------------------------------------------------- NSSDC Master Catalog Display Spacecraft Telecommunications Information --------------------------------------------------------- Pioneer Venus Orbiter NSSDC ID: 78-051A Telemetry rates: 0.008 - 2.048 kbps Telemetry support via Deep Space Network (DSN) --------------------------------------------------------- NSSDC Master Catalog Display Spacecraft Selected References --------------------------------------------------------- Pioneer Venus Orbiter NSSDC ID: 78-051A 1. Colin, L., Encounter with Venus, Science, 203, No. 4382, 743-744, Feb. 1979. 2. Colin, L., Pioneer Venus overview, IEEE Trans. Geosci. Rem. Sens., GE-18, No. 1, 3-4, Jan. 1980. 3. Nothwang, G. J., Pioneer Venus spacecraft design and operation, IEEE Trans. Geosci. Rem. Sens., GE-18, No. 1, 5-10, Jan. 1980. 4. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- For questions about this mission, please contact: Dr. David R. Williams, dwilliams@nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov, (301)441-4197 Hughes STX Corporation 7701 Greenbelt Road Suite 400 Greenbelt, MD 20770 For questions about the NSSDC's information systems, please contact: Dr. James Thieman, thieman@nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov, (301)286-9790 National Space Science Data Center, Code 633.2 NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- NASA Official: J. H. King, king@nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov Last Updated: 1995-07-20 Output Generated: 1996-09-13 Programming by: E. V. Bell, II