Kosmos 359
Failed Soviet Venus probe
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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]
| Mission type | Venus lander[1] |
|---|---|
| Operator | Lavochkin |
| COSPAR ID | 1970-065A |
| SATCAT no. | 4501 |
| Mission duration | Launch failure |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft type | 3MV |
| Manufacturer | Lavochkin |
| Launch mass | 1,180 kg (2,600 lb) |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 22 August 1970, 05:06:09 UTC |
| Rocket | Molniya-M 8K78M |
| Launch site | Baikonur 31/6 |
| Contractor | OKB-1 |
| End of mission | |
| Decay date | 6 November 1970 |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Low Earth |
| Eccentricity | 0.05041 |
| Perigee altitude | 210 km (130 mi) |
| Apogee altitude | 910 kilometres (570 mi) |
| Inclination | 51.50° |
| Period | 95.70 minutes |
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
Experiments
Kosmos 359 carried a limited set of scientific instruments, including a solar wind detector, cosmic-ray detector, resistance thermometer, and aneroid barometer.[5]