Venera 12

Venera 12 model

Operator| Soviet Academy of Sciences
COSPAR ID| 1978-086A
1978-086C
SATCAT no.| 11025
12028
Mission duration| Travel: 3 months and 6 days
Lander: 110 minutes
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type| 4V-1
Bus| 4MV
Launch mass| 4,457.9 kg (9,828 lb)[1]
Dry mass| 1,600 kg (3,500 lb)
Dimensions| 2.3 m × 2.7 m × 5.7 m (7.5 ft × 8.9 ft × 18.7 ft)
Start of mission
Launch date| 14 September 1978, 02:25:13 UTC[1]
Rocket| Proton-K/D-1 8K82K
Launch site| Baikonur 81/23
End of mission
Last contact| 18 April 1980[2]
Orbital parameters
Reference system| Geocentric
Regime| Low Earth
Semi-major axis| 6,569 kilometres (4,082 mi)
Perigee altitude| 177 kilometres (110 mi)
Apogee altitude| 205 kilometres (127 mi)
Inclination| 51.5°
Flyby of Venus
Spacecraft component| Venera 12 flight platform
Closest approach| 19 December 1978
Distance| ~35,000 kilometers (22,000 mi)
Venus lander
Spacecraft component| Venera 12 descent craft
Landing date| 21 December 1978, 03:30
Landing site|  [ ⚑ ] 7°S 294°E﻿ / ﻿7°S 294°E﻿ / -7; 294

Venera

<- Venera 11

Venera 13 ->

The Venera 12 (Russian: Венера-12 meaning Venus 12) was an uncrewed Soviet space mission designed to explore the planet Venus. Venera 12 was launched on 14 September 1978 at 02:25:13 UTC.[3]

After separating from its flight platform on 19 December 1978, the Venera 12 lander entered the Venus atmosphere two days later at 11.2 kilometres per second (7.0 mi/s). During its descent, the lander employed aerodynamic braking followed by parachute braking, ending with atmospheric braking. After a nearly one-hour descent, a soft landing was made at 06:30 Moscow time (0330 UT) on 21 December. Touchdown speed was 7–8 metres per second (23–26 ft/s); landing coordinates are  [ ⚑ ] 7°S 294°E﻿ / ﻿7°S 294°E﻿ / -7; 294. After touchdown, the lander transmitted data to the flight platform for about 110 minutes until the flight platform, which remained in a heliocentric orbit, moved out of range. Venera 11 and 12 carried identical instruments.[3]

## Contents

* 1 Flight platform
* 2 Lander
* 3 See also
* 4 References
* 5 External links

## Flight platform

The Venera 12 flight platform carried solar wind detectors, ionosphere electron instruments, and two gamma ray burst detectors – the Soviet-built KONUS and the French-built SIGNE 2. The SIGNE 2 detectors were simultaneously flown on Venera 12 and Prognoz 7 to allow for triangulation of gamma ray sources. Before and after the Venus flyby, Venera 11 and Venera 12 yielded detailed time-profiles for 143 gamma-ray bursts, resulting in the first ever catalog of such events. The last gamma-ray burst reported by Venera 12 occurred on 5 January 1980. Venera 12 used its ultraviolet spectrometer to study comet Bradfield (C/1979 Y1) on 13 February 1980, and reported spectrophotometric data until 19 March 1980.[4]

The list of flight platform instruments and experiments are:[5]

* 30–166 nm Extreme UV spectrometer
* Compound plasma spectrometer
* KONUS Gamma-ray burst detector
* SNEG Gamma-ray burst detector
* Magnetometer
* 4 Semiconductor counters
* 2 Gas-discharge counters
* 4 Scintillation counters
* Hemispherical proton telescope

The active phase of the science mission for the flight platform ended in April 1980. Venera 12 is currently in heliocentric orbit, with perihelion of 0.69 AU, aphelion of 1.01 AU, eccentricity of 0.19, inclination of 2.3 degrees and orbital period of 284 days.

## Lander

The Venera 12 descent craft carried instruments designed to study the detailed chemical composition of the atmosphere, the nature of the clouds, and the thermal balance of the atmosphere. These instruments included a gas chromatograph to measure the composition of the Venus atmosphere, instruments to study scattered solar radiation and soil composition, and a device named Groza which was designed to measure atmospheric electrical discharges. Results reported included evidence of lightning and thunder, a high 36Ar/40Ar ratio, and the discovery of carbon monoxide at low altitudes.

Each of the Venera 11 and Venera 12 included landers with a pair of cameras, each of which was designed for color imaging. A design flaw prevented the lens caps from separating, resulting in all cameras failing to capture and return images.[6]

The list of lander experiments and instruments are:[5]

* Backscatter nephelometer
* Mass spectrometer – MKh-6411
* Gas chromatograph – Sigma
* X-ray fluorospectrometer
* 360° scanning photometer – IOAV
* Spectrometer (430–1170 nm)
* Microphone / anemometer
* Low-Frequency radio sensor
* 4 Thermometers
* 3 Barometers
* Accelerometer – Bizon
* Penetrometer – PrOP-V
* Soil Analysis Device
* 2 Color Cameras
* Small solar batteries – MSB

## See also

* List of missions to Venus
* Timeline of artificial satellites and space probes

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Siddiqi, Asif (2018). Beyond Earth: A Chronicle of Deep Space Exploration, 1958–2016 (second ed.). NASA History Program Office. https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/beyond-earth-tagged.pdf.
2. ↑ Siddiqi, Asif A. (2018). Beyond Earth: A Chronicle of Deep Space Exploration, 1958–2016. The NASA history series (second ed.). Washington, DC: NASA History Program Office. pp. 152–153. SP2018-4041. ISBN 978-1-62683-042-4. https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/beyond-earth-tagged.pdf.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Venera 12". https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/venera-12/in-depth/.
4. ↑ "Venera 12". https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1978-086A.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Mitchell, Don P.. "Drilling into the Surface of Venus". http://mentallandscape.com/V_Venera11.htm.
6. ↑ "Venera 12 Descent Craft". https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1978-086C.

## External links

* Venera 11 & Venera 12 (NASA)
* Drilling into the Surface of Venus (Venera 11 and 12)

* v
* t
* e

Venera programme

Flybys|

* Venera 1
* Venera 2

Orbiters|

* Venera 15
* Venera 16

Descent probes|

* Venera 3
* Venera 4
* Venera 5
* Venera 6
* Venera 7

Landers|

* Venera 8
* Venera 9
* Venera 10
* Venera 11
* Venera 12
* Venera 13
* Venera 14

Failed launches|

* Tyazhely Sputnik
* Venera 2MV-1 No.1
* Venera 2MV-1 No.2
* Venera 2MV-2 No.1
* Kosmos 21
* Venera 3MV-1 No.2
* Kosmos 27
* Kosmos 96
* Kosmos 167
* Kosmos 359
* Kosmos 482
* Venera 1964A

Future missions|

* Venera-D

* v
* t
* e

Spacecraft missions to Venus

Active missions|

| Orbiters|

* Akatsuki

|

Flybys|

* Parker Solar Probe (en route)
* BepiColombo (en route)

Past missions|

| Orbiters|

* Magellan
* Pioneer Venus Orbiter
* Venera 9
* 10
* 15
* 16
* Venus Express

|

Flybys|

* Venera 1†
* Mariner 2
* Zond 1†
* Venera 2†
* Mariner 5
* 10
* Venera 11
* 12
* 13
* 14
* Vega 1
* 2
* Galileo
* Cassini–Huygens
* MESSENGER
* IKAROS
* Shin-en†

Descent probes|

* Venera 3†
* 4
* 5
* 6
* Pioneer Venus Multiprobe

Landers|

* Venera 7
* 8
* 9
* 10
* 11
* 12
* 13
* 14
* Vega 1
* 2
* Pioneer Venus Small Probes

Balloon probes|

* Vega 1
* 2

Failed launches|

* Tyazhely Sputnik
* Mariner 1
* 2MV-1 No.1
* 2MV-1 No.2
* 2MV-2 No.1
* Kosmos 21
* 3MV-1 No.2
* Kosmos 27
* 96
* 167
* 482

Planned missions|

| Flybys|

* Solar Orbiter (2020)
* Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (2022)
* Dragonfly (2026)

|

Proposed missions|

| Venus missions|

* CUVE
* DAVINCI
* EnVision
* HAVOC
* HOVER
* Shukrayaan-1
* VAMP
* Venera-D
* VERITAS
* VICI
* VISAGE
* VISE
* VOX
* Zephyr

|

Flybys|

* Europa Clipper
* Hayabusa2
* Mercury-P
* Laplace-P
* NASA Uranus orbiter and probe

Cancelled / concepts|

* European Venus Explorer
* Inspiration Mars
* TMK-Mavr
* Venus Orbiting Imaging Radar
* Vesta

Program overviews|

* Venera
* 3MV
* Mariner
* Pioneer Venus
* Vega

Related|

* Colonization
* Observations and explorations
* List of artificial objects on Venus
* List of missions
* Manned Venus flyby
* Terraforming
* VeSpR

* Missions are ordered by launch date. † indicates failure en route or before any data returned.

* v
* t
* e

Orbital launches in 1978

Kosmos 974 | Intelsat IVA F-3 | Soyuz 27 | Kosmos 975 | Kosmos 976 * Kosmos 977 * Kosmos 978 * Kosmos 979 * Kosmos 980 * Kosmos 981 * Kosmos 982 * Kosmos 983 | Kosmos 984 | Kosmos 985 | Progress 1 | Molniya-3 No.20 | Kosmos 986 | Fanhui Shi Weixing 4 | IUE | Kosmos 987 | Kyokko | Kosmos 988 | OPS 6291 | Kosmos 989 | Ume 2 | Kosmos 990 | OPS 5111 | OPS 6031 | Kosmos 991 | Soyuz 28 | Molniya-1-39 | Kosmos 992 | Landsat 3 * OSCAR 8 * PIX-1 | Kosmos 993 | Kosmos 994 | OPS 0460 * OPS 7858 | Kosmos 995 | OPS 9439 * OPS 9440 | Kosmos 996 | Kosmos 997 * Kosmos 998 | Kosmos 999 | Kosmos 1000 | Intelsat IVA F-6 | Kosmos 1001 | Kosmos 1002 | OPS 8790 | Yuri 1 | Kosmos 1003 | HCMM | OPS 6183 | Kosmos 1004 | OTS-2 | Kosmos 1005 | Kosmos 1006 | OPS 5112 | Kosmos 1007 | Kosmos 1008 | Kosmos 1009 | Pioneer Venus Orbiter | Kosmos 1010 | Kosmos 1011 | Kosmos 1012 | Ekran No.13L | Molniya-1-40 | Kosmos 1013 * Kosmos 1014 * Kosmos 1015 * Kosmos 1016 * Kosmos 1017 * Kosmos 1018 * Kosmos 1019 * Kosmos 1020 | Kosmos 1021 | OPS 9454 | Kosmos 1022 | OPS 4515 | Soyuz 29 | GOES 3 | Kosmos 1023 | Seasat | Soyuz 30 | Kosmos 1024 | Kosmos 1025 | Comstar 1C | Kosmos 1026 | Progress 2 | GEOS-2 | Molniya-1-41 | Gran' No.14L | Kosmos 1027 | OPS 7310 | Kosmos 1028 | Progress 3 | Pioneer Venus Multiprobe | ISEE-3 | Ekran No.15L | Molniya-1-41 | Soyuz 31 | Kosmos 1029 | Kosmos 1030 | Venera 11 | Kosmos 1031 | Venera 12 | Jikiken | Kosmos 1032 | Kosmos 1033 | Progress 4 | Kosmos 1034 * Kosmos 1035 * Kosmos 1036 * Kosmos 1037 * Kosmos 1038 * Kosmos 1039 * Kosmos 1040 * Kosmos 1041 | Kosmos 1042 | OPS 5113 | Kosmos 1043 | Molniya-3 No.22 | TIROS-N | Kosmos 1044 | Ekran No.14L | Nimbus 7 * CAMEO | Interkosmos 18 * Magion 1 | Kosmos 1045 * RS-1 * RS-2 | Prognoz 7 | Kosmos 1046 | Einstein | Kosmos 1047 | Kosmos 1048 | NATO 3C | Kosmos 1049 | Kosmos 1050 | Kosmos 1051 * Kosmos 1052 * Kosmos 1053 * Kosmos 1054 * Kosmos 1055 * Kosmos 1056 * Kosmos 1057 * Kosmos 1058 | Kosmos 1059 | Kosmos 1060 | OPS 5114 | OPS 9441 * OPS 9442 | Kosmos 1061 | Kosmos 1062 | Anik B1 * DRIMS | Kosmos 1063 | Gorizont No.11L | Kosmos 1064 | Kosmos 1065 | Kosmos 1066 | Kosmos 1067 | Kosmos 1068 | Kosmos 1069

Payloads are separated by bullets ( * ), launches by pipes ( | ). Crewed flights are indicated in bold text. Uncatalogued launch failures are listed in italics. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are denoted in (brackets).

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