Mission to Venus conducted by the United States as part of the Pioneer Venus project
Pioneer Venus Orbiter
Pioneer Venus Orbiter
Mission type
Venus orbiter
Operator
NASA / ARC
COSPAR ID
1978-051A
SATCAT no.
10911
Website
Pioneer Venus at NASA
Mission duration
14 years, 4 months, 18 days (from launch) 13 years, 10 months, 4 days (at Venus)
Spacecraft properties
Bus
HS-507
Manufacturer
Hughes
Launch mass
582 kg (1,283 lb) [1]
Dry mass
517 kg (1,140 lb)
Dimensions
2.5 × 1.2 m (8.2 × 3.9 ft)
Power
312 watts
Start of mission
Launch date
May 20, 1978, 13:13:00 (1978-05-20UTC13:13Z) UTC [1]
Rocket
Atlas SLV-3D Centaur-D1AR
Launch site
Cape Canaveral LC-36A
End of mission
Last contact
October 8, 1992, 19:22 (1992-10-08UTC19:23Z) UTC
Decay date
October 22, 1992[2]
Orbital parameters
Reference system
Cytherocentric
Semi-major axis
33,405.8 kilometres (20,757.4 mi)
Eccentricity
0.842
Pericytherion altitude
181.6 kilometers (112.8 mi)
Apocytherion altitude
66,630 kilometers (41,400 mi)
Inclination
105 degrees
Period
24 hours
Epoch
22 November 1979, 11:53:20 UTC[3]
Venus orbiter
Orbital insertion
December 4, 1978
Pioneer (Pioneer Venus)
← Pioneer 11
Pioneer 13 →
The Pioneer Venus Orbiter, also known as Pioneer Venus 1 or Pioneer 12, was a mission to Venus conducted by NASA as part of the Pioneer Venus project. Launched in May 1978 atop an Atlas-Centaur rocket, the spacecraft was inserted into an elliptical orbit around Venus on December 4, 1978. It returned data from Venus until October 1992.[2][4]
^ ab"Pioneer Venus Orbiter/Pioneer Venus 1/Pioneer 12". NASA's Solar System Exploration website. Retrieved December 1, 2022.
^ abMcDowell, Jonathan. "Satellite Catalog". Jonathan's Space Page. Archived from the original on 2003-10-11.
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