Venera-9 Spacecraft Scale Model.

Date of appearance: 1975

Developer: NPO Lavochkin

Scale: 1:10

Dimensions: 580 × 340 × 770 mm

Materials: steel, plastic composition.

Venera 9 was a Soviet unmanned space mission to Venus.

It consisted of an orbiter and a lander.

The orbiter was the first spacecraft to orbit Venus, while the lander was the first to return images from the surface of another planet.

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.

It was the first spacecraft to return an image from the surface of another planet. Many of the instruments began working immediately after touchdown and the cameras were operational 2 minutes later. These instruments revealed a smooth surface with numerous stones. The lander measured a light level of 14,000 lux, similar to that of Earth in full daylight but no direct sunshine.

For the first time in history, it became possible to obtain panorama photos of the surface of Venus, as well as to study the chemical composition of its soil and clouds. After undocking from the lander the station became the satellite of Venus, traveling on two-day elliptical orbits. Venera-9 became the first automatic stations which transmitted images from the surface of another planet.

Soviet spacecraft Venus-9 will return to Earth after 50 years of space wanderings Venera-9 launched on March 31, 1972 and remained in low-earth orbit due to a malfunction of the upper stage engine. The device was renamed into Cosmos-482, and after 2 years a new Venus-9 was launched.

In 2018, Russian astronomer Pavel Shubina carried out calculations and came to the conclusion that Cosmos-482 will fall to Earth in 2022-2025. He noted that over the past almost 50 years, the orbit of the device has been steadily decreasing, and during this period, the earth's gravity will prevail. Shubin's conclusions were confirmed by the American astronomer Jonathan McDowell. In the process of falling to Earth, the interplanetary station is likely to be completely destroyed. But the descent vehicle, which was supposed to descend to the surface of Venus, is likely to survive. Built for extreme Venusian conditions, it is one of the most rugged human-made spacecraft.

SOLD