Asri-unix.868
net.space
utcsrgv!utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!ARPAVAX:C70:sri-unix!TAW@S1-A
Mon Mar 1 12:27:32 1982
Russian probe on Sol II
a074 0625 01 Mar 82
PM-Soviets-Space,350
Soviet Space Probe Reaches Venus
MOSCOW (AP) - A Soviet space probe made a soft landing on the planet
Venus today and was sending back photographs and information from
soil samples, the official news agency Tass reported.
The Soviets and the United States have previously landed unmanned
space probes on Venus, the nearest planet to Earth. Tass said a second
module is due to land on Venus Friday.
Tass said a module descended from the unmanned Venus 13 spacecraft
early this morning after a four-month flight.
''The results of the new cosmic experiment will significantly widen
the information about the planet nearest to the Earth,'' Tass said.
The news agency said the probe had already sent back photographs and
scooped up a soil sample.
The descent vehicle transmitted information from the surface of the
planet for 127 minutes today, according to Tass.
Venus 13 was launched Oct. 30, 1981. Tass said Venus 14, launched on
Nov. 4, will reach the planet on Friday. Both craft were launched
from a satellite in earth orbit, Tass said.
The Soviet Union started its Venus research program in 1961. A year
later, the U.S. space probe Mariner 2 passed by the planet.
In 1967, a U.S. probe under the Mariner program and a Soviet probe
reached the planet within a few hours of each other.
The Soviet probe transmitted information for about 75 minutes,
stopping after temperatures above 500 degrees Fahrenheit were recorded
at what was later determined to be about 20 miles from the planet's
surface. The U.S. probe, Mariner 5, passed about 6,000 miles from the
planet's surface.
The U.S. launched two Pioneer spacecraft in December 1978, one which
went into orbit of the planet and the other which split into five
separate landing space probes.
Tass said its current Venus probes will test the ground surface of
Venus in an effort to determine what elements are present on the hot,
cloud-covered planet.
The mother ship, Venus 13, passed at a distance of about 22,320
miles, Tass said.
The news agency said joint Soviet-French experiments were carried
out during the flight to Venus.
ap-ny-03-01 0925EST
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