Vega program

Vega (Russian Вега ) is a Soviet mission, consisting of two separate spacecraft to the planet Venus and Comet Halley. The name Vega plays with the exotic sound of all known and so-called star Vega, and is joined by codes from the first two letters of Венера = Venera = Venus and Галлей = Gallej = Halley. Both spacecraft were launched in 1984 and with a broad international participation from both Eastern and Western European states were realized.

Mission

After the largely successful Venera spacecraft, the Soviet Union introduced between 1984 and 1986 two more planetary spaceflight by: Vega 1 and Vega 2

Two mother probes should first fly past Venus. In each case, a lander and a balloon should be notched. The lander was supposed to land on the surface, a maneuver that had the USSR been successfully carried out 1970-1982 eight times (see Venera ). The balloon introduced something new dar. festooned with instruments, it should be criss- cross driven through the Venus atmosphere, depending on where the winds would carry him. The two parent probes should then drive the comet Halley and explore it up close.

The two Vega probes were the first Soviet probes, the two are completely different objects (Venus and Halley ) should fly. Also, there was on this mission with a strong international participation: In addition to the Eastern Bloc countries GDR, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Bulgaria were the western European countries France, Austria and the Federal Republic of Germany, the latter for the first time, represented on a Soviet probe. The probe had numerous technical innovations such as an independent body from the scan platform with the camera, or the first time on an interplanetary probe CCD technology for image capture.

Both probes weighed at the start of 4950 kg and were launched by a Proton rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The pictures of the start of that time were the first images of the Proton rocket, which were published by the Soviet Union.

The balloons

The balloons of the Vega probes were the first and so far only on another celestial body used -down balloons. They were made in France and unfolded and ejected at an altitude of 54 km. The balloon had a diameter of 3.4 m and weighed 25 kg. A balloon wore on a 12 m long rope a 5 kg heavy payload with sensors for determining temperature, pressure, vertical wind speed, brightness and visibility of the atmosphere as well as for the detection of lightning. The power supply was made by batteries. The balloon was exposed to the night side of Venus and drove unmotivated with the winds of the atmosphere of Venus. He was persecuted by a network of twelve ground stations, six of which were located outside the Soviet Union. Once the balloon arrived on the day side of Venus, it was heated by the sun and burst.

Course

• Vega 1 left Earth successfully on December 15, 1984 ditto the sister probe Vega 2 on 21 December 1984.
• Vega 1 flew June 11, 1985 passing of Venus, did the same Vega 2 on 14 June 1985.
• Also on 11 and 14 June 1985 found the Venus landings of the Vega 1 and Vega 2 landers instead. Both probes reached the surface and transmitted from there 56 and 57 minutes data.
• Furthermore, the two balloons were dropped on 11 and 14 June 1985. The Vega 1 balloon flew 46 ½ hours, the Vega 2 even 60 hours before lost contact.
• The passage of comet Halley found on Vega 1 on 6 March 1986 at 8890 kilometers away instead, at Vega 2 on March 9, 1986 in 8030 kilometers distance.
• After the Halley rendezvous both probes were switched off.

Results

Vega 1 and 2 were among the most elaborate space projects of the Soviet Union. Although only the Venus balloons significant new findings provided ( the two countries played a minor role ) and the successful flybys of Halley by the even more successful flyby of the European Giotto probe was covered, the Soviets had at least a high standard of space technology in the 1980s demonstrated. Giotto was the way thanks to the data provided by the Vega probes successfully improve their approach path, so that the nucleus of Halley's comet to be photographed.

Originally Vegas should be first in a series of missions of the Soviet Union once. Involuntarily were Vega 1 and 2 instead of the last successful planetary missions of the Soviet Union. Firstly, because the later ambitious projects Fobos 1 and 2 as well as 96 Mars failed, partly because due to the parlous economic situation of the then Russia, the Soviet Union could not be inherited in this field.