Venera 10
Venera 10 — Venera 9's twin: an orbiter and a lander (landed 25 October 1975 near Beta Regio). The lander worked for 65 minutes and photographed large, flat, pancake-like rocks, measuring 465 °C and 92 atmospheres; its orbiter relayed the data and studied the clouds from orbit.
Key facts
Mission & specifications
Mission
- Operator
- Lavochkin (USSR)
- Launched
- June 14, 1975
- Status
- Completed
Trajectory
- Distance from the Sun
- 0.726 AU
- Computed from the cached position
- Distance from Earth
- 0.381 AU
- Computed from cached positions
- Distance from Venus
- 0.19 AU
- Computed from cached positions
Mission
Venera 10 was the twin of Venera 9, and like it was two spacecraft in one: an orbiter to relay data and study Venus from above, and a lander. It was launched on 14 June 1975, six days after Venera 9. The lander separated on 23 October and entered the atmosphere on 25 October. It was slowed by a heat shield, three parachutes, a disc-shaped drag brake and finally a crushable ring that absorbed the landing, and it touched down at 02:17 UT near Beta Regio. For 65 minutes, until the orbiter moved out of range, it sent back data. Its camera could take only half of the planned panorama, because one of its two covers failed to release — the same fault as on Venera 9 — but the picture showed large, flat, pancake-like rocks with weathered material between them. It measured 465 °C and 92 atmospheres at the surface, and a wind of 3.5 m/s. The orbiter, meanwhile, entered an orbit around Venus and studied the clouds and atmosphere. NSSDCA says its transmitter failed after three months; NASA's history Beyond Earth has it sending data until at least June 1976.
- 1975Venera 10 launches toward Venus on a Proton rocketLaunch
An orbiter and lander, six days behind Venera 9.
The orbiter relays the lander's signal and studies the clouds.
65 minutes on the surface, photographing flat, pancake-like rocks.
Images
Images from open archives · credit shown per image