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Mission record

Venera 6

Also known as Venus 6, Venera6

U.S.S.R · Launched

Explore trajectory

Completed · Success

One of a pair of identical Soviet spacecraft launched five days apart in January 1969 and designed to make in-situ measurements as they descended through the Venusian atmosphere, measuring temperature, pressure and composition. The descent craft was released on 17 May 1969, 25,000 km from the planet, entered the nightside atmosphere and sent read-outs every 48 seconds for 51 minutes before ceasing operation due to the temperature and pressure. NSSDCA records that together the Venera 5 and 6 probe data allowed a more precise determination of the atmospheric composition.

Destinations
Launch vehicle
Modified SS-6 (Sapwood) with 2nd Generation Upper Stage + Escape Stage
Launch site
Tyuratam (Baikonur Cosmodrome), U.S.S.R
Countries
Soviet Union
Mission types
Atmospheric probe

Chronology

Mission timeline

  1. Launch

    Launched toward Venus

    The spacecraft narrative and NASA history give05:51:52UT; the orbit table rounds to05:52.

    Earth

  2. Milestone

    Midcourse correction

    The sources date the correction to March16. Its reported distance from Earth is not a full state or burn vector.

    Sun

  3. Milestone

    Descent craft released and enters the nightside atmosphere

    Both pages record that the descent craft was released on 17 May 1969, 25,000 km from the planet. The entry itself is carried at day precision: the sentence that prints the entry time of 06:05 UT prints no date, and the day is taken from the Decay Date of 1969-05-17 on the launch/orbital information page.

    Venus

  4. Mission end

    Transmission ends; NSSDCA decay date 1969-05-17

    The descent craft sent read-outs every 48 seconds for 51 minutes and ceased operation due to the temperature and pressure effects. The two pages disagree on the altitude at which it stopped: the master catalog gives roughly 10 to 12 km, while the descent craft page gives roughly 18 km altitude and records the 10 to 12 km figure as what was initially reported. Both put it over 5 degrees S, 23 degrees E, and the descent craft page adds the conditions as 26 bar and 320 C. The launch/orbital information page prints 1969-05-17 under the heading Decay Date.

    Venus

Mission architecture

Vehicles

  • Venera 6 · Spacecraft

    Destinations: Venus

    • Venera 6 Descent Craft · Probe

      Destinations: Venus

Trajectory record

Time-dependent navigation trajectory

Source states place the model at the selected time. Reconstructed flight, estimates, predictions and historical mission plans are identified by interval; gaps remain visible.

J2000 · Sun-centered display · positions interpolated between source states

Coverage: May 17, 1969 to May 17, 1969

Source records and sampling assumptions are retained with the repository data. Model attitude and surface appearance are illustrative.

  • Venera 6 nominal lower descent: Physically reconstructed based on publicly available data · nominal radio-contact descent only · May 17, 1969 to May 17, 1969

Provenance

Sources

Each source is listed once and labeled with the mission, event, trajectory, or destination/body context it supports.

Data verified through September 14, 2026