View source for Venera 2MV-1 No.2

{{Short description|Soviet spacecraft launched 1962}}
{{Infobox spaceflight
| name                  = 2MV-1 No.2
| image                 = 
| image_caption         = 

| mission_type          = [[Venus]] lander
| operator              = [[OKB-1]]
| Harvard_designation   = 1962 Alpha Tau 1<ref name="GSP" />
| COSPAR_ID             = 1962-043A
| SATCAT                = 381
| mission_duration      = Launch failure

| spacecraft_type       = [[2MV-1]]
| manufacturer          = [[OKB-1]]
| dry_mass              = 
| launch_mass           = {{convert|6500|kg|lb|abbr=on}}
| power                 =

| launch_date           = {{start-date|1 September 1962, 02:12:30|timezone=yes}}&nbsp;UTC
| launch_rocket         = [[Molniya (rocket)|Molniya]] 8K78 {{nowrap|[[serial number|s/n]] T103-13}}
| launch_site           = [[Baikonur Cosmodrome|Baikonur]] [[Gagarin's Start|1/5]]
| launch_contractor     = 
| decay_date            = {{end-date|6 September 1962}}

| orbit_epoch           = {{start-date|1 September 1962}}
| orbit_reference       = [[geocentric orbit|Geocentric]]
| orbit_regime          = [[Low Earth orbit|Low Earth]] (achieved)<br/>[[Heliocentric orbit|Heliocentric]] (intended)
| orbit_periapsis       = {{convert|180|km|mi}}
| orbit_apoapsis        = {{convert|310|km|mi}} 
| orbit_eccentricity    = 0.00981
| orbit_inclination     = 64.9&nbsp;degrees
| orbit_period          = 89.4&nbsp;minutes
| apsis                 = gee

| programme             = [[Venera program|Venera]]
| previous_mission      = [[Venera 2MV-1 No.1]]
| next_mission          = [[Venera 2MV-2 No.1]]
}}

'''Venera 2MV-1 No.2''',<ref name="LL"/><ref name="GSP"/> also known as '''Sputnik 20''' in the [[Western world]], was a [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] spacecraft, which was launched in 1962 as part of the [[Venera]] programme. Due to a problem with its upper stage it failed to leave [[low Earth orbit]], and reentered the atmosphere a few days later.<ref name="EA">{{cite web|url=http://www.astronautix.com/project/venera.htm|title=Venera|last=Wade|first=Mark|website=Encyclopedia Astronautica|access-date=28 July 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120107060752/http://www.astronautix.com/project/venera.htm|archive-date=7 January 2012}}</ref> It was the second of two Venera 2MV-1 spacecraft, both of which failed to leave Earth orbit. The previous mission, [[Venera 2MV-1 No.1]], was launched several days earlier.<ref name="GSP">{{cite web|url=http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/venera-2mv-1.htm|title=Venera (2a), (2b) (2MV-1 #1, 2)|first=Gunter|last=Krebs|website=Gunter's Space Page|access-date=28 July 2010}}</ref>

== Launch ==

Venera 2MV-1 No.2 was launched at 02:12:30 UTC on 1 September 1962, atop a [[Molniya (rocket)|Molniya]] 8K78 carrier rocket flying from [[Gagarin's Start|Site 1/5]] at the [[Baikonur Cosmodrome]].<ref name="LL">{{cite web|url=http://planet4589.org/space/log/launchlog.txt|title=Launch Log|last=McDowell|first=Jonathan|website=Jonathan's Space Page|access-date=28 July 2010}}</ref> The lower stages of the rocket operated nominally, injecting the fourth stage and payload into a [[low Earth orbit]]. Following a [[coast phase]], the upper stage was to have ignited around sixty-one minutes and thirty seconds after launch, in order to place the spacecraft into [[heliocentric orbit]]. The ignition command did not reach the engine, however, and the fuel valves did not open, so the upper stage failed to ignite leaving the payload in [[geocentric orbit]].<ref name="EA-R7">{{cite web|url=http://www.astronautix.com/m/mars2mv-1.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161228033221/http://astronautix.com/m/mars2mv-1.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 28, 2016|title=Mars 2MV-1|last=Wade|first=Mark|website=Encyclopedia Astronautica|access-date=November 8, 2019}}</ref> It reentered the atmosphere on 6 September 1962, five days after it had been launched.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://planet4589.org/space/log/satcat.txt|title=Satellite Catalog|last=McDowell|first=Jonathan|website=Jonathan's Space Page|access-date=28 July 2010}}</ref>

== Satellite designation ==

The designations Sputnik 24,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1962-043A|title=Sputnik 20|website=NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive|access-date=28 July 2010|archive-date=17 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417040232/https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1962-043A|url-status=dead}}</ref> and later Sputnik 20, were used by the United States [[Naval Space Command]] to identify the spacecraft in its Satellite Situation Summary documents, since the Soviet Union did not release the internal designations of its spacecraft at that time, and had not assigned it an official name due to its failure to depart Earth orbit.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://filer.case.edu/~sjr16/advanced/20th_soviet_sputnik.html|title=Soviet Craft - Sputnik|last=Robbins|first=Stuart J.|date=11 January 2006|website=Journey Through The Galaxy|access-date=28 July 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090204083216/http://filer.case.edu/~sjr16/advanced/20th_soviet_sputnik.html|archive-date=4 February 2009}}</ref>

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

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Venera}}
{{Orbital launches in 1962}}

[[Category:Spacecraft launched in 1962]]

[[Category:Venera program]]
[[Category:Spacecraft which reentered in 1962]]
[[Category:2MV]]


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