When did Venera 13 launch into space?
Venera 13 launched on the 30th of October 1981 at 06:04 UTC. The probe followed a dual launch strategy with Venera 14 to gather data from two different locations simultaneously.
Venera 13 launched on the 30th of October 1981 at 06:04 UTC. The probe followed a dual launch strategy with Venera 14 to gather data from two different locations simultaneously.
Data transmission continued until at least the 25th of April 1983. This duration allowed engineers to receive information about solar wind plasma and gamma-ray bursts during the flyby phase.
Microphones on the probe captured noises of Venusian wind blowing across the surface for the first time. It also recorded mechanical sounds of the lander hitting the ground and pyrotechnic lens cap removal impacts against the regolith.
An X-ray fluorescence spectrometer analyzed samples that placed the rock in the class of weakly-differentiated melanocratic alkaline gabbroids. The area featured bedrock outcrops surrounded by dark fine-grained soil.
Leonid Ksanfomaliti published an article suggesting signs of life based on images resembling a disk, a black flap, and a scorpion moving across the ground. Engineers identified the moving disk as two lens caps ejected from the lander and editors refuted these ideas in September 2012.