Venera 12
Venera 12
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| Mission type | Venus flyby / lander |
|---|---|
| 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 | 4,940 kg (10,890 lb) |
| Dry mass | 1,600 kg (3,500 lb) |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | September 14, 1978, 02:25:13 UTC |
| Rocket | Proton with upper and escape stages |
| Launch site | Baikonur 81/23 |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Low Earth |
| Semi-major axis | 6,569 kilometres (4,082 mi) |
| Perigee | 177 kilometres (110 mi) |
| Apogee | 205 kilometres (127 mi) |
| Inclination | 51.5° |
| Flyby of Venus | |
| Spacecraft component | Venera 12 flight platform |
| Closest approach | 19 December 1978 |
| Distance | 34,000 km (21,000 mi) |
| Venus lander | |
| Spacecraft component | Venera 12 descent module |
| Landing date | 21 December 1978, 03:30 |
| Landing site | 7°S 294°E / 7°S 294°E |
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The Venera 12 (Russian: Венера-12 meaning Venus 12) was an Soviet unmanned space mission to explore the planet Venus. Venera 12 was launched on 14 September 1978 at 02:25:13 UTC.
Separating from its flight platform on December 19, 1978, the lander entered the Venus atmosphere two days later at 11.2 km/s. During the descent, it employed aerodynamic braking followed by parachute braking and ending with atmospheric braking. It made a soft landing on the surface at 06:30 Moscow time (0330 UT) on 21 December after a descent time of approximately 1 hour. The touchdown speed was 7–8 m/s. Landing coordinates are 7°S 294°E / 7°S 294°E. It transmitted data to the flight platform for 110 minutes after touchdown until the flight platform moved out of range while remaining in a heliocentric orbit. Identical instruments were carried on Venera 11 and 12.
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 triangulation of gamma ray sources. Before and after 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 January 5, 1980. Venera 12 used its ultraviolet spectrometer to study Comet Bradfield on 13 February 1980, and reported spectrophotometric data until 19 March 1980.
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