Авиация / Spacecraft that Explored the Inner Planets Venus and Mercury

Название: Spacecraft that Explored the Inner Planets Venus and Mercury
Автор: Thomas Lund
Издательство: Praxis / Springer
Год: 2023
Страниц: 366
Язык: English
Формат: True PDF
Размер: 14 MB

A series of increasingly capable spacecraft were sent to explore the inner planets Venus and Mercury. The history of that planetary exploration is traced in this book along with the evolution of sophisticated spacecraft that unveiled long-sought secrets of the planets. The spacecraft were ingenious and reflected the best efforts of talented people working with the available technology of the day. Additionally, this book showcases engineering involved in those capable machines. A consecutive series of 34 planetary spacecraft, which span the time period 1961 to 2021, are described. This includes the unsuccessful missions of several early spacecraft that paved the way for a better understanding of Venus’ hostile environments. This book will describe many successful spacecraft sent to Venus by the Soviet Union and many successful spacecraft sent to Venus and to Mercury by the United States. The recent exploration of Venus by the European Space Agency’s Venus Express and the Japanese spacecraft Akatsuki can also be found in this book.