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Mission record

Venera 5

Also known as Venus 5, Venera5

U.S.S.R · Launched

Explore trajectory

Completed · Success

One of a pair of identical Soviet spacecraft launched five days apart in January 1969 and designed to make in-situ measurements as they descended through the Venusian atmosphere, measuring temperature, pressure and composition. The descent craft was released from the bus on 16 May 1969 at a distance of 37,000 km from Venus, entered the nightside atmosphere and sent read-outs every 48 seconds for 53 minutes before succumbing to the temperature and pressure. Approximately 70 pressure measurements and 50 temperature measurements were returned during the descent, confirming the high temperatures, pressures and carbon dioxide composition found by Venera 4.

Destinations
Launch vehicle
Modified SS-6 (Sapwood) with 2nd Generation Upper Stage + Escape Stage
Launch site
Tyuratam (Baikonur Cosmodrome), U.S.S.R
Countries
Soviet Union
Mission types
Atmospheric probe

Chronology

Mission timeline

  1. Launch

    Launched into Earth parking orbit and then from a Tyazheliy Sputnik towards Venus

    The launch/orbital information page prints 1969-01-05T06:28:08Z and the master catalog gives the same time, 06:28:08 UT, so the two agree to the second. The two pages disagree on the launch vehicle: Facts in Brief prints Modified SS-6 (Sapwood) with 2nd Generation Upper Stage + Escape Stage, while the descent craft page's own text says it was launched into an Earth parking orbit on a Molniya-M with a Blok VL upper stage.

    Earth

  2. Milestone

    Mid-course maneuver

    Both pages record a mid-course maneuver on 14 March 1969, a full date printed in one sentence.

  3. Milestone

    Descent craft released and enters the nightside atmosphere

    Both pages record that the probe was released from the bus on 16 May 1969 at a distance of 37,000 km from Venus. The entry itself is carried at day precision: the sentence that prints the entry time of 06:01 UT prints no date, and the day is taken from the Decay Date of 1969-05-16 on the launch/orbital information page.

    Venus

  4. Mission end

    Transmission ends; NSSDCA decay date 1969-05-16

    The descent craft sent read-outs every 48 seconds for 53 minutes before succumbing to the temperature and pressure. The two pages disagree on the conditions and the altitude at which it stopped: the master catalog gives roughly 320 C, 26.1 bar, at 24 to 26 km altitude, while the descent craft page gives roughly 320 C, 27 bar, at an initial altitude reading of 24-26 km, later determined to be closer to 18 km altitude. Both put it over 3 degrees S, 18 degrees E. The launch/orbital information page prints 1969-05-16 under the heading Decay Date.

    Venus

Mission architecture

Vehicles

  • Venera 5 · Spacecraft

    Destinations: Venus

    • Venera 5 Descent Craft · Probe

      Destinations: Venus

Trajectory record

Trajectory dataset not yet available

No verified trajectory dataset is committed for this mission, so Mission Atlas renders no path.

Provenance

Sources

Each source is listed once and labeled with the mission, event, trajectory, or destination/body context it supports.

Data verified through September 3, 2026