Mission Type: Impact
Launch Vehicle: 8K78 (no. T15000-22)
Launch Site: Tyuratam (Baikonur Cosmodrome), U.S.S.R, NIIP-5 / launch site 1
Spacecraft Mass: 948 kg
Spacecraft Instruments:
Bus: 1) radiation detector; 2) charged-particle detector; 3) magnetometer; 4) piezoelectric detector and 5) atomic hydrogen detector
Lander: 1) barometer; 2) thermometer; 3) radiation detector; 4) micro-organism detection experiment; 5) atmospheric composition experiment; 6) acidity measurement experiment; 7) electro-conductivity experiment and 8) luminosity experiment
References:
Deep Space Chronicle: A Chronology of Deep Space and Planetary Probes 1958-2000, Monographs in Aerospace History No. 24, by Asif A. Siddiqi

National Space Science Data Center, http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/

The probe, designed to accomplish atmospheric entry into Venus, successfully reached Earth orbit but failed to leave for Venus when the Blok L upper stage malfunctioned. The upper stage evidently lost stable attitude due to a failure in the circuit of the power supply for the attitude-control system.

The spacecraft burned up in Earth's atmosphere the following day. Had this mission been successful, it would probably have been given a Zond designation.