Kosmos 167

Kosmos 167
Mission type Venus lander[1]
Operator Lavochkin
COSPAR ID 1967-063A[2]
SATCAT № 2852[2]
Mission duration Launch failure
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type 4V-1
Manufacturer Lavochkin
Start of mission
Launch date 17 June 1967, 02:36:38 (1967-06-17UTC02:36:38Z) UTC
Rocket Molniya-M 8K78M
Launch site Baikonur 1/5
End of mission
Decay date 25 June 1967 (1967-06-26Z)
Orbital parameters
Reference system Geocentric
Regime Low Earth
Perigee 187 kilometres (116 mi)[3]
Apogee 262 kilometres (163 mi)[3]
Inclination 51.8 degrees[3]
Period 88.98 minutes[3]

Kosmos 167 (Russian: Космос 167 meaning Cosmos 167), or 4V-1 No.311, was a 1967 Soviet spacecraft intended to explore Venus. A 4V-1 spacecraft launched as part of the Venera programme, Kosmos 167 was intended to land on Venus, but never departed low Earth orbit due to a launch failure.

The 4V-1 No.311 spacecraft was the second of two 4V-1 vehicles built and operated by Lavochkin, following Venera 4.[4]

A Molniya-M carrier rocket was used to launch 3MV-4 No.6. The launch occurred from Site 1/5 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 02:36:38 UTC on 17 June 1967.[5] Due to a turbopump cooling problem, the rocket's Blok-L fourth stage failed to ignite, and as a result the spacecraft never departed its parking orbit.[4] It was deployed into a low Earth orbit with a perigee of 187 kilometres (116 mi), an apogee of 262 kilometres (163 mi), and 51.8 degrees of inclination to the equator. The spacecraft was named Kosmos 167, part of a series typically used for military and experimental satellites in order to cover up the failure; had it departed Earth orbit it would have received the next designation in the Venera series, at the time Venera 5. Kosmos 167 was destroyed when it reentered the Earth's atmosphere on 25 June 1967.[3]

See also

References

  1. Krebs, Gunter. "Interplanetary Probes". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  2. 1 2 "Cosmos 167". US National Space Science Data Centre. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 McDowell, Jonathan. "Satellite Catalog". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  4. 1 2 Siddiqi, Asif A. (2002). "1967". Deep Space Chronicle: A Chronology of Deep Space and Planetary Probes 1958-2000 (PDF). Monographs in Aerospace History, No. 24. NASA History Office. pp. 61–68.
  5. McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 11 April 2013.


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