View source for Venera 2

{{short description|Soviet Venus spacecraft}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Infobox spaceflight
| name                  = Venera 2
| image                 = Zond 2.jpg

| mission_type          = [[Venus]] flyby{{r|skyrocket1}}
| operator              = [[OKB-1]]
| COSPAR_ID             = 1965-091A{{r|nssdc}}
| SATCAT                = 1730{{r|nssdc}}
| mission_duration      = {{time interval|12 Nov 1965|27 Feb 1966}}

| spacecraft            = [[3MV-4]] No.4
| manufacturer          = [[OKB-1]]
| dry_mass              = 
| launch_mass           = {{cvt|1037|kg|lb}}{{r|skyrocket2}}
| landing_mass          = 
| power                 =

| launch_date           = {{start-date|12 November 1965, 05:02|timezone=yes}} UTC{{r|LL}}
| launch_rocket     = [[Molniya-M]] 
| launch_site       = [[Baikonur Cosmodrome|Baikonur]] [[Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 31|31/6]]
| launch_contractor = 

| disposal_type     = Spacecraft failure
| last_contact      = 27 February 1966<br/>{{small|Shortly before flyby}}
| declared          = 4 March 1966

| orbit_epoch       = 
| orbit_reference   = [[Geocentric orbit|Geocentric]]
| orbit_regime      = [[Low Earth Orbit|Low Earth]]
| orbit_periapsis   = {{cvt|205|km|mi}}
| orbit_apoapsis    = {{cvt|315|km|mi}}
| orbit_inclination = 51.8°
| orbit_period      = 89.71 minutes
| apsis             = gee

|interplanetary     = 
 {{Infobox spaceflight/IP
   | type           = flyby
   | object         = [[Venus]]
   | arrival_date   = 27 February 1966, 02:52 UTC
   | distance       = {{cvt|23810|km}}
 }}

| programme         = '''[[Venera program|Venera]]'''
| previous_mission  = [[Kosmos 27]]
| next_mission      = [[Venera 3]]
}}

'''Venera 2''' ({{langx|ru|Венера-2}} meaning ''Venus 2''), also known as '''3MV-4 No.4'''  was a [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] spacecraft intended to explore [[Venus]]. A [[3MV-4]] spacecraft launched as part of the [[Venera|Venera programme]], it failed to return data after flying past Venus.

== Mission ==
Venera 2 was launched by a [[Molniya (rocket)|Molniya]] carrier rocket, flying from [[Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 31|Site 31/6]] at the [[Baikonur Cosmodrome]].{{r|LL}} The launch occurred at 05:02 UTC on 12 November 1965, with the first three stages placing the spacecraft and [[Blok-L]] upper stage into a [[low Earth orbit|low Earth]] [[parking orbit]] before the Blok-L fired to propel Venera 2 into [[heliocentric orbit]] bound for Venus, with [[perihelion]] of 0.716 [[Astronomical unit|AU]], [[aphelion]] of 1.197 AU, [[Orbital eccentricity|eccentricity]] of 0.252, [[Orbital inclination|inclination]] of 4.29 degrees and [[orbital period]] of 341 days.

The Venera 2 spacecraft was equipped with cameras, as well as a [[magnetometer]], solar and cosmic x-ray detectors, [[Piezoelectric sensor|piezoelectric detectors]], [[ion trap]]s, a [[Geiger counter]] and receivers to measure cosmic radio emissions.{{r|Siddiqi_2002}} The spacecraft made its closest approach to Venus at 02:52 UTC on 27 February 1966, at a distance of {{cvt|23810|km|mi}}.{{r|nssdc}}

During the flyby, all of Venera 2's instruments were activated, requiring that radio contact with the spacecraft be suspended. The probe was to have stored data using onboard recorders, and then transmitted it to Earth once contact was restored. Following the flyby the spacecraft failed to reestablish communications with the ground. It was declared lost on 4 March 1966.{{r|Siddiqi_2002}} An investigation into the failure determined that the spacecraft had overheated due to a radiator malfunction.{{r|Siddiqi_2002|nasa1}}

== Misidentification ==
In March 2025, [[Abraham Loeb]] published a paper where he claimed that the asteroid [[2005 VL1|{{mp|2005 VL|1}}]] is the same object as Venera 2, arguing that the asteroid made its closest approach to Earth in November 1965 (around the same time that Venera 2 launched).{{r|Loeb_2025}} However, this was quickly disproven by [[Federico Spada]] and [[Jonathan McDowell]], where reconstructions of Venera 2's orbital trajectory does not match with that of {{mp|2005 VL|1}},{{r|Spada_2025}} adding that the asteroid itself did not even made a close encounter with Venus in early 1966.{{r|McDowell_2025}}

== See also ==
{{Portal|Spaceflight}}
* [[List of missions to Venus]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|refs=

<ref name="LL">{{cite web
| author1= J. McDowell
| title= Launch Log
| url= https://planet4589.org/space/gcat/data/derived/launchlog.html
| website= Jonathan's Space Page
| access-date= 11 April 2013 }}
</ref>

<ref name="Loeb_2025">{{cite arXiv
| author1= A. Loeb
| author2= R. Cloete
| title= Is the "Dark Comet" {{mp|2005 VL|1}} the Venera 2 Spacecraft?
| year= 2025
| eprint= 2503.03552
| class= astro-ph.EP }}
</ref>

<ref name="McDowell_2025">{{cite journal
| author1= J. McDowell
| title= {{mp|2005 VL|1}} is not Venera-2
| journal= Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society
| year= 2025
| volume= 9
| issue= 3
| pages= 55
| bibcode= 2025RNAAS...9...55M
| arxiv= 2503.07972
| doi= 10.3847/2515-5172/adbe79
| doi-access= free }}
</ref>

<ref name="nasa1">{{Cite web
| title= In Depth {{!}} Venera 2
| url= https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/venera-2/in-depth
| website= solarsystem.nasa.gov
| publisher= [[NASA]]
| access-date= 18 August 2019
| archive-date= 18 August 2019
| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190818143640/https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/venera-2/in-depth/
| url-status= dead }}
</ref>

<ref name="nssdc">{{cite web
| title= Venera 2
| url= https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1965-091A
| website= nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov
| publisher= [[NASA]]
| access-date= 11 April 2013
| archive-date= 16 December 2016
| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161216231450/http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraftDisplay.do?id=1965-091A
| url-status= dead
}}</ref>

<ref name="Siddiqi_2002">{{cite book
| url= https://science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/DSC_monograph24.pdf
| author1= A. A. Siddiqi
| title= Deep Space Chronicle: A Chronology of Deep Space and Planetary Probes 1958–2000
| year= 2002
| publisher= [[NASA]]
| pages= 47–52
| id= NASA-SP-2002-4524
| isbn= 978-1-780-39324-7 }}
</ref>

<ref name="skyrocket1">{{cite web
| author1= G. D. Krebs
| title= Interplanetary Probes
| url= http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sat/ip_probe.htm
| website= Gunter's Space Page
| access-date= 11 April 2013 }}
</ref>

<ref name="skyrocket2">{{cite web
| author1= G. D. Krebs
| title= Zond 2, 3 / Venera 2 (3MV-4 #1, 2, 3, 4)
| url= https://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/venera-3mv-4.htm
| website= Gunter's Space Page
| access-date= 31 July 2025 }}
</ref>

<ref name="Spada_2025">{{cite journal
| author1= F. Spada
| title= "Dark Comet" {{mp|2005 VL|1}} is Unlikely to be the Lost Soviet-era Probe Venera 2
| journal= Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society
| year= 2025
| volume= 9
| issue= 3
| pages= 58
| arxiv= 2503.09137
| doi= 10.3847/2515-5172/adbf9a
| doi-access= free }}
</ref>

}}

{{Venera}}
{{Venus spacecraft}}
{{Orbital launches in 1965}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Venera 02}}
[[Category:Spacecraft launched in 1965]]
[[Category:1965 in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Venera program]]
[[Category:Derelict satellites in heliocentric orbit]]
[[Category:3MV]]