Sourced catalog
Mission directory
Search names and vehicles, then combine destination, agency, mission type, outcome, launch year, and trajectory filters. Your view stays in the URL.
233 records
Snapshot 2026-09-03
Filters1 active
Active filters: Soviet Academy of Sciences
Open the explorerNot carried: Soviet Academy of Sciences.
Launched 1984
Completed · SuccessA Soviet spacecraft mission that combined a Venus swingby, including dropping off a lander and balloon, and a Comet Halley flyby, flown six days behind the identical Vega 1. After deploying the descent module the Vega 2 bus flew by Venus on June 15, 1985 and was retargetted using Venus gravity field assistance to intercept Comet Halley in March 1986. Its lander probe, identical to those of Venera 9 through 14, touched down in eastern Aphrodite Terra, where the surface sample was found to be an anorthosite-troctolite, while a constant-pressure instrumented balloon aerostat floated in the middle, most active layer of the Venus three-tiered cloud system and transmitted directly to Earth.
- Agency
- Soviet Academy of Sciences
- Destination
- Venus
- Trajectory
- Trajectory unavailable
- Flyby
- Lander
- Atmospheric Probe
Launched 1984
Completed · SuccessA Soviet spacecraft mission that combined a Venus swingby, including dropping off a lander and balloon, and a Comet Halley flyby. The Vega 1 bus released the Venus entry package on June 9, 1985 and flew by Venus at a distance of 39,000 km two days later, and was then retargetted using Venus gravity field assistance to intercept Comet Halley in March 1986. Its lander probe, identical to those of Venera 9 through 14, touched down just north of eastern Aphrodite Terra and transmitted data for 56 minutes from the surface, while a constant-pressure instrumented balloon aerostat deployed from the upper heat protection hemisphere floated in the middle, most active layer of the Venus three-tiered cloud system and transmitted directly to Earth.
- Agency
- Soviet Academy of Sciences
- Destination
- Venus
- Trajectory
- Trajectory unavailable
- Flyby
- Lander
- Atmospheric Probe
Launched 1983
Completed · SuccessOne of a pair of Soviet spacecraft designed to use 8 cm band side-looking radar mappers to study the surface properties of Venus. The two were inserted into Venus orbit a day apart with their orbital planes shifted by an angle of 4.45 degrees relative to one another, so that an area could be reimaged if necessary, each in a nearly polar orbit with a periapsis at 62 N latitude. Together they imaged the area from the north pole down to about 30 degrees N latitude with a resolution of one to two km over the 8 months of mapping operations, completing the primary mapping mission on 10 July 1984.
- Agency
- Soviet Academy of Sciences
- Destination
- Venus
- Trajectory
- Trajectory unavailable
Launched 1983
Completed · SuccessOne of a pair of Soviet spacecraft designed to use 8 cm band side-looking radar mappers to study the surface properties of Venus. The two were inserted into Venus orbit a day apart with their orbital planes shifted by an angle of 4.45 degrees relative to one another, so that an area could be reimaged if necessary, each in a nearly polar orbit with a periapsis at 62 N latitude. Together they imaged the area from the north pole down to about 30 degrees N latitude with a resolution of one to two km over the 8 months of mapping operations, completing the primary mapping mission on 10 July 1984.
- Agency
- Soviet Academy of Sciences
- Destination
- Venus
- Trajectory
- Trajectory unavailable
Launched 1978
Completed · Partial SuccessOne of a pair of identical Soviet spacecraft built for the September 1978 Venus launch window, each comprising a descent craft mounted on a flyby bus rather than the orbiter used on earlier missions. The flight platform carried instruments to study solar-wind composition, gamma-ray bursts, ultraviolet radiation and the electron density of the ionosphere of Venus; the descent craft studied the detailed chemical composition of the atmosphere, the nature of the clouds, the thermal balance of the atmosphere and the composition and mechanical properties of the surface. The descent craft made a soft landing and transmitted to the flight platform for 110 minutes after touchdown, but the lens cover on the imaging system failed to eject so no images were returned, and the soil sample was not placed correctly into the chamber so the planned analysis could not be done.
- Agency
- Soviet Academy of Sciences
- Destination
- Venus
- Trajectory
- Trajectory unavailable
Launched 1978
Completed · Partial SuccessOne of a pair of identical Soviet spacecraft built for the September 1978 Venus launch window, each comprising a descent craft mounted on a flyby bus rather than the orbiter used on earlier missions. The flight platform carried instruments to study solar-wind composition, gamma-ray bursts, ultraviolet radiation and the electron density of the ionosphere of Venus; the descent craft studied the detailed chemical composition of the atmosphere, the nature of the clouds, the thermal balance of the atmosphere and the composition and mechanical properties of the surface. The descent craft made a soft landing and transmitted to the flight platform for 95 minutes after touchdown, but the lens cover on the imaging system failed to eject so no images were returned, and the soil sample was not placed correctly into the chamber so the planned analysis could not be done.
- Agency
- Soviet Academy of Sciences
- Destination
- Venus
- Trajectory
- Trajectory unavailable