Venera 8

Venera 8
	Assembly of Venera 8
Mission type	Venus lander
Operator	Lavochkin
COSPAR ID	1972-021A
SATCAT no.	5912
Mission duration	Travel: 117 days; Lander: 50 minutes
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	4V-1 No.670
Manufacturer	Lavochkin
Launch mass	1,184 kilograms (2,610 lb)
Landing mass	495 kilograms (1,091 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date	27 March 1972, 04:15:06 UTC
Rocket	Molniya-M/MVL
Launch site	Baikonur 31/6
End of mission
Last contact	22 July 1972 at 09:32 UT (landing) + 50 min., 11 sec. when transmission ended
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Semi-major axis	6,591 kilometres (4,095 mi)
Eccentricity	0.03732
Perigee altitude	194 kilometres (121 mi)
Apogee altitude	246 kilometres (153 mi)
Inclination	51.7°
Period	88.9 minutes
Epoch	27 March 1972
Venus lander
Landing date	22 July 1972, 09:32 UTC
Landing site	10°42′S 335°15′E / 10.70°S 335.25°E
	Venera ← Venera 7 Kosmos 482 →

Venera 8 (Russian: Венера-8 meaning Venus 8) was a probe in the Soviet Venera program for the exploration of Venus and was the second robotic space probe to conduct a successful landing on the surface of Venus.^[2]

Venera 8 was a Venus atmospheric probe and lander. Its instrumentation included temperature, pressure, and light sensors as well as an altimeter, gamma ray spectrometer, gas analyzer, and radio transmitters.

^ ^a ^b Siddiqi, Asif (2018). Beyond Earth: A Chronicle of Deep Space Exploration, 1958–2016 (PDF) (second ed.). NASA History Program Office.
^ Harvey, Brian (2007). Russian Planetary Exploration History, Development, Legacy and Prospects. Springer-Praxis. pp. 115–118. ISBN 9780387463438.

[Venera_8-1] Siddiqi, Asif (2018). Beyond Earth: A Chronicle of Deep Space Exploration, 1958–2016 (PDF) (second ed.). NASA History Program Office.

[Harvey115-2] Harvey, Brian (2007). Russian Planetary Exploration History, Development, Legacy and Prospects. Springer-Praxis. pp. 115–118. ISBN 9780387463438.

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