astronomy

Venera 10

Venera 10 is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Venera 10 rather than just read about it. In short: Venera 10 (Russian: Венера-10 meaning Venus 10), or 4V-1 No. 661, was a Soviet uncrewed space mission to Venus. It consisted of an orbiter and a lander.

Key takeaways

Venera 10 belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Venera 10 to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Venera 10 from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Venera 10 (Russian: Венера-10 meaning Venus 10), or 4V-1 No. 661, was a Soviet uncrewed space mission to Venus. It consisted of an orbiter and a lander. It was launched on June 14, 1975, 03:00:31 UTC and had a mass of 5033 kg (11096 lb).

Orbiter When the mission launched, the Soviet Union only disclosed that the mission's objective was to explore Venus and the surrounding space. Western sources speculated that the spacecraft contained a lander. The orbiter entered Venus orbit on October 23, 1975. Its mission was to serve as a communications relay for the lander and to explore cloud layers and atmospheric parameters with several instruments and experiments:

1.6–2.8 μm IR Spectrometer 8–28 μm IR Radiometer 352 nm UV Photometer 2 Photopolarimeters (335–800 nm) 300–800 nm Spectrometer Lyman-α H/D Spectrometer Bistatic radar mapping CM, DM radio occultations Triaxial Magnetometer 345–380 nm UV Camera 355–445 nm Camera 6 Electrostatic analyzers 2 Modulation Ion Traps Low-Energy Proton / Alpha detector Low-Energy Electron detector 3 Semiconductor counters 2 Gas-Discharge counters Cherenkov detector The orbiter consisted of a cylinder with two solar panel wings and a high gain parabolic antenna attached to the curved surface. A bell-shaped unit holding propulsion systems was attached to the bottom of the cylinder, and mounted on top was a 2.4 metres (7 ft 10 in) sphere which held the landers. To reach Venus, the spacecraft traveled in a heliocentric orbit from Earth to the planet with perihelion of 0.72 AU, apohelion of 1.02 AU, eccentricity of 0.17, inclination of 2.3 degrees and orbital period of 294 days.

Lander

On October 23, 1975, the lander separated from the orbiter, and touched down with the sun near zenith, at 05:17 UT, on October 25. A system of circulating fluid was used to distribute the heat load. This system, plus precooling prior to entry, permitted operation of the spacecraft for 65 minutes after landing. During descent, heat dissipation and deceleration were accomplished sequentially by protective hemispheric shells, three parachutes, a disk-shaped drag brake, and a compressible, metal, doughnut-shaped, landing cushion.

It landed near the border area between Beta Regio and Hyndla Regio (within a 150 km radius of 15.42°N 291.51°E / 15.42; 291.51), three days after the touchdown of, and 2200 km from Venera 9. Venera 10 measured a surface windspeed of 3.5 m/s. Other measurements included atmospheric pressure at various heights, and temperature, and surface light levels. Venera 10 was the second probe to send back black and white television pictures from the Venusian surface (after Venera 9). Venera 10 photographs showed lava rocks of pancake shape with lava or other weathered rocks in between. Planned 360 degree panoramic pictures could not be taken because, as with Venera 9, one of two camera lens covers failed to come off, limiting pictures to 180 degrees.The lander communicated with Earth using the Venera 10 orbiter as a communication relay. Lander payload:

Temperature and pressure sensors Accelerometer Visible / IR photometer – IOV-75 Backscatter and multi-angle nephelometers – MNV-75 P-11 Mass spectrometer – MAV-75 Panoramic telephotometers (2, with lamps) Anemometer – ISV-75 Gamma-ray spectrometer – GS-12V Gamma ray densitometer – RP-75 Radio Doppler experiment

Illustrations

Venera 10: Kazakhstan coin featuring Venera 10 — Kazakhstan coin featuring Venera 10

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Venera 10

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Venera 10 claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Venera 10 before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Venera 10 ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Venera 10

In research: Venera 10 appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Venera 10 in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Venera 10 is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1975 in spaceflight, 1975 in the Soviet Union, 4V-1, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Venera 10 outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Venera 10 in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Venera 10 means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Venera 10 out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Venera 10 in simple terms?

Venera 10 (Russian: Венера-10 meaning Venus 10), or 4V-1 No. 661, was a Soviet uncrewed space mission to Venus. It consisted of an orbiter and a lander.

Why does Venera 10 matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Venera 10?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Venera 10.