Kosmos 359

Venera 7, sister ship to Kosmos 359.

Kosmos 359 was an unmanned Soviet probe launched on 22 August 1970.[1] The probe's intended purpose was to explore Venus, but an error caused the final-stage rocket to malfunction. Leading the craft to become trapped in an elliptical orbit around Earth. The probe remained in orbit around Earth for 410 days before its orbit decayed and it reentered the atmosphere.[2] Kosmos 359 was launched five days after Venera 7 and had an identical design. If the craft didn't suffer a mission-ending failure it would have landed on Venus shortly after Venera 7.[3] To publicly acknowledge the failure of the attempted Venus lander would be a public relations disaster for the Soviet Space Program. After mission failure the Venera spacecraft was renamed Kosmos 359 in order to hide the failure from the public.[4]

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 wide array of scientific instruments, including a solar wind detector, cosmic-ray detector, resistance thermometer, and aneroid barometer.[6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Huntress, Wesley; Marov, Mikhail (2011). Soviet Robots in the Solar System. Chichester, UK: Praxis Publishing. p. 420. ISBN 978-1-4419-7897-4.
  2. ↑ Walker, Doreen M.C Walker (March 1974). "Analysis of the Orbit of 1970-65D, Cosmos 359 Rocket". Planetary and Space Science 22 (3). doi:10.1016/0032-0633(74)90072-5.
  3. ↑ Morov, V. I.; Bazilevsky, A. T. (2003). Space Science and Technology.
  4. ↑ Siddiqi, Asif A. (June 2002). Deep Space Chronicle. Washington DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration. p. 82.
  5. ↑ Siddiqi, Asif A. (June 2002). Deep Space Chronicle. Washington DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration. p. 82.
  6. ↑ Siddiqi, Asif A. (June 2002). Deep Space Chronicle. Washington DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration. p. 82.
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