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2MV-1 No.1
Mission type Venus lander
Operator OKB-1
Harvard designation1962 Alpha Pi 1 [1]
COSPAR ID 1962-040A Edit this at Wikidata
SATCAT no.372
Mission durationLaunch failure
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type 2MV-1
Manufacturer OKB-1
Launch mass890 kilograms (1,960 lb)
Power watts
Start of mission
Launch date25 August 1962, 02:18:45 (1962-08-25UTC02:18:45Z) UTC
Rocket Molniya 8K78 s/n T103-12
Launch site Baikonur 1/5
End of mission
Decay date28 August 1962 (1962-08-29)
Orbital parameters
Reference system Geocentric
Regime Low Earth (achieved)
Heliocentric (intended)
Eccentricity0.00403
Perigee altitude168 kilometres (104 mi)
Apogee altitude221 kilometres (137 mi)
Inclination64.9 degrees
Period88.71 minutes
Epoch25 August 1962 (1962-08-25)
 

Venera 2MV-1 No.1, [2] [1] also known as Sputnik 19 in the West, was a Soviet spacecraft, which was launched in 1962 as part of the Venera programme.

Due to a problem with its upper stage it failed to leave low Earth orbit, and reentered the atmosphere a few days later. [3] It was the first of two Venera 2MV-1 spacecraft, both of which failed to leave Earth orbit. [1]

Launch

Venera 2MV-1 No.1 was launched at 02:18:45 UTC on 25 August 1962, atop a Molniya 8K78 carrier rocket flying from Site 1/5 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. [2] The first three stages of the rocket operated nominally, injecting the fourth stage and payload into a low Earth orbit. The fourth stage then coasted until one hour and fifty seconds after launch, when it fired its ullage motors in preparation for ignition. One of the ullage motors failed to fire, and when the main engine ignited for a four-minute burn to place the spacecraft into heliocentric orbit, the stage began to tumble out of control. Forty-five seconds later, its engine cut off, leaving the spacecraft stranded in Earth orbit. [4] It reentered the atmosphere on 28 August 1962, three days after it had been launched. [5] [1]

Spacecraft designation

The designations Sputnik 23, [6] and later Sputnik 19 was used by the United States Naval Space Command to identify the spacecraft in its Satellite Situation Summary documents, since the Soviet Union did not release the internal designations of its spacecraft at that time, and had not assigned it an official name due to its failure to depart geocentric orbit. [7]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d Krebs, Gunter. "Venera (2a), (2b) (2MV-1 #1, 2)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 28 July 2010.
  2. ^ a b McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 28 July 2010.
  3. ^ Wade, Mark. "Venera". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 11 December 2016. Retrieved 28 July 2010.
  4. ^ Wade, Mark. "Soyuz". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 28 December 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  5. ^ McDowell, Jonathan. "Satellite Catalog". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 28 July 2010.
  6. ^ "Sputnik 19". NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive. Retrieved 28 July 2010.
  7. ^ Robbins, Stuart J. (11 January 2006). "Soviet Craft - Sputnik". Journey Through The Galaxy. Archived from the original on 4 February 2009. Retrieved 28 July 2010.