This paper describes the four Pioneer Venus probe spacecraft which will explore the atmosphere of Venus in mid-December, 1978. The probes, one large and three small, will carry a complement of sixteen scientific instruments which will make measurements from entry (200 km-altitude) down to the planet surface. The surface environment, approximately 770 K temperature and 95 bar. pressure, leads to a design in which the equipment complement is housed in internally insulated, spherical pressure vessels. Entry deceleration and stabilization are provided by 45 deg. half-angle conical forebodies, heat protected by carbon phenolic ablative heat shields. For the large probe, a parachute provides additional retardation between 67 and 44 km altitude, a region of extreme scientific interest.
Probing a planetary atmosphere - Pioneer Venus spacecraft description
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and American Geophysical Union, Conference on the Exploration of the Outer Planets
1975-09-01
Conference paper
No indication
English
Pioneer Venus spacecraft charging model
NTRS | 1977
|The Pioneer Venus Spacecraft Program
AIAA | 1977
|The Pioneer Venus spacecraft program
NTRS | 1978
|The Pioneer Venus Spacecraft Program
AIAA | 1977
|