May 20, 2022
On this day in 1978, NASA’s orbiter-probe Pioneer Venus launched. Planned primary mission 8 months. The primary goals of the mission were to investigate the solar wind in the Venusian environment, map Venus’ surface, and study the characteristics of the upper atmosphere and ionosphere. The spacecraft remained in operation until October 8, 1992, where it ran out of fuel and burned up in Venus’ atmosphere.
The image on the left shows Pioneer Venus at Kennedy Space Center prior to launch. The photo on the rights shows the Atlas-Centaur rocket used in the Pioneer Venus launch. Image credits left: NASA KSC, right: NASA
