| Venera 6 | |||||||
| Mission Type: | Venus atmospheric probe | ||||||
| Operator: | Lavochkin | ||||||
| Cospar Id: | 1969-002A[1] | ||||||
| Satcat: | 3648 | ||||||
| Mission Duration: | Travel: Atmosphere: 51 minutes | ||||||
| Spacecraft: | 2V (V-69) No.331 | ||||||
| Manufacturer: | Lavochkin | ||||||
| Dry Mass: | 410kg (900lb) | ||||||
| Launch Mass: | 1130kg (2,490lb)[2] | ||||||
| Launch Date: | UTC | ||||||
| Launch Rocket: | Molniya 8K78M | ||||||
| Launch Site: | Baikonur 1/5 | ||||||
| Orbit Reference: | Heliocentric | ||||||
| Orbit Periapsis: | 0.71 AU | ||||||
| Orbit Apoapsis: | 0.98 AU | ||||||
| Orbit Inclination: | 2.0° | ||||||
| Orbit Period: | 285 days | ||||||
| Apsis: | helion | ||||||
| Interplanetary: |
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| Programme: | Venera | ||||||
| Previous Mission: | Venera 5 | ||||||
| Next Mission: | Venera 7 | ||||||
Venera 6 (Russian: link=no|Венера-6 meaning Venus 6), or 2V (V-69) No.331, was a Soviet spacecraft, launched towards Venus to obtain atmospheric data. It had an on-orbit dry mass of 1130kg (2,490lb).
The spacecraft was very similar to Venera 4 although it was of a stronger design. When the atmosphere of Venus was approached, a capsule with a mass of 405kg (893lb) was jettisoned from the main spacecraft. This capsule contained scientific instruments.
During descent towards the surface of Venus, a parachute opened to slow the rate of descent. For 51 minutes on May 17, 1969, while the capsule was suspended from the parachute, data from the Venusian atmosphere were returned. It landed at .
The spacecraft also carried a medallion bearing the State Coat of Arms of the Soviet Union and a bas-relief of Lenin to the night side of Venus.
Given the results from Venera 4, the Venera 5 and Venera 6 landers contained new chemical analysis experiments tuned to provide more precise measurements of the atmosphere's components. Knowing the atmosphere was extremely dense, the parachutes were also made smaller so the capsule would reach its full crush depth before running out of power (as Venera-4 had done).
Venera 6 was launched into an Earth parking orbit on January 10, 1969, at 05:51:52 UT and then from a Tyazheliy Sputnik (69-002C) towards Venus. After a mid-course maneuver on March 16 the Venera 6 probe was released on May 17, 1969, 25000km (16,000miles) from the planet.
It entered the nightside atmosphere at 06:05 UT and deployed the parachute. The probe sent back readouts every 45 seconds for 51 minutes and ceased operation due to the temperature and pressure effects at roughly 10to altitude. The photometer failed to operate, but the atmosphere was sampled at 2 bar and 10 bar pressures.[1]