Jun 2 1983
From The Space Library
June 2-7: The Soviet Union launched from Baykonur two interplanetary spacecraft, Venera 15 on June 2 on Venera 16 on June 7. The spacecraft first went into "an intermediate orbit of an artificial earth satellite"; then, an on-board engine sent them toward Venus, where they were scheduled to arrive in October.
Venera 15 had no descent module, indicating that "a landing is not being planned" and that the spacecraft would conduct atmospheric and surface research from orbit. Tass said that Venera 16, "by its design and mission," was "analogous to" Venera 15. Tass also mentioned the lapse of more than 20 years since the Soviet Union began its interplanetary program with the launch in February 1961 of Venera 1, which reached a heliocentric orbit. First probe to land on Venus was Venera 3, in March 1966; Venera 4 landed gradually and sent data on the planet's atmosphere for 93 minutes. Venera 13 and Venera 14 soft-landed in March 1982 and returned photographs of the landing site. (FBIS, Mosc Dom Tv Svc in Russian, Tass in English, June 2&7/83)
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