Tuesday, October 27, 2026

1969-01-05 · 57 years ago

Venera-5 — launch

Date in UTC

Venera 5 was a space probe in the Soviet space program Venera for the exploration of Venus. Venera 5 was launched towards Venus to obtain atmospheric data. The spacecraft was very similar to Venera 4 although it was of a stronger design. The launch was conducted using a Molniya-M rocket, flying from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. When the atmosphere of Venus was approached, a capsule weighing 405 kg (893 lb) and containing scientific instruments was jettisoned from the main spacecraft. During satellite descent towards the surface of Venus, a parachute opened to slow the rate of descent. For 53 minutes on 16 May 1969, while the capsule was suspended from the parachute, data from the Venusian atmosphere were returned.

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venera_5. Related NASA reference: https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/chronology.html#1969. Description adapted from Wikipedia contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).

Category
Launches and Flight Tests
Type
Orbital launch
Subjects
Space transportation
Mission
Venera-5
Organization
Strategic Rocket Forces
Vehicle
Molniya 8K78M
Location
NIIP-5, Baykonur, Kazakstan
Country
SU
Outcome
Successful

Context and qualifications

Launch code: DS. Source references: Petrov71; XPC.

Sources and attribution

×