Kosmos 482
Launch Date | Mar. 31, 1972 |
Launch Site | Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Russia |
Destination | Venus |
Type | Atmospheric Probe |
Status | Unsuccessful |
Nation | Soviet Union |
Alternate Names | 1972-023A, 05919 |
Goals
Like Venera 8, which embarked on a successful mission four days earlier, this spacecraft was to land on Venus with a design that devoted less of its mass to resisting pressure and more to thermal protection, instruments and a stronger parachute.
Accomplishments
None. Failure of the engine that was to propel it from Earth orbit to Venus marooned the spacecraft in an elliptical orbit around Earth for more than a month until it finally reentered Earth's atmosphere.
In Depth
This was the sister craft to Venera 8 (launched four days earlier). Unfortunately, the spacecraft never left Earth orbit.
The Blok L escape stage's main engine prematurely cut off after only 125 seconds of firing due to a failure in the onboard timer. As a result, the spacecraft entered an elliptical orbit around Earth. Officially, the Soviets named the probe Kosmos 482 to disguise its true mission. The spacecraft reentered Earth's atmosphere.
Spacecraft
Launch Vehicle: Modified SS-6 (Sapwood) with second-generation upper stage + escape stage; 8K78M
Spacecraft Mass: c. 1,180 kg
Spacecraft Instruments:
Bus:
- cosmic-ray detector
- solar wind detector
- ultraviolet spectrometer
Lander:
- thermometer
- barometer
- radio altimeter
- photometer
- gamma-ray spectrometer
- gas analyzer
- wind-speed recorder
Additional Resources
National Space Science Data Center Master Catalog: Kosmos 482
Selected References
Siddiqi, Asif A. Deep Space Chronicle: A Chronology of Deep Space and Planetary Probes 1958-2000, NASA, 2002.