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Missions and Programs

Vega Program

Robotic Venus Exploration Missions

A Soviet space program consisting of two spacecraft, Vega 1 and Vega 2, launched in December 1984 to study Venus and Halley's Comet in a single combined mission. Both spacecraft deployed landers and balloon probes into the Venusian atmosphere in June 1985, then used a Venus gravity assist to redirect toward Halley's Comet, flying past it in March 1986 and returning roughly 1,500 images, among the first close-up pictures ever taken of a comet nucleus.

Facts
Mission Type
Robotic Venus and Halley's Comet flyby program 1
Launch Date
1984-12-15 1
Date of Vega 1's launch; Vega 2 followed on 21 December 1984.
End Date
1986-03-09 1
Date of Vega 2's Halley's Comet flyby, the program's primary scientific objectives complete; some instrument operation continued afterward.
Outcome
Successful; both spacecraft delivered Venus landers and balloon probes, then returned some of the first close-up images of Halley's Comet's nucleus during their March 1986 flybys. 1
Mission Type
Mission Type (category)
Flyby Mission 1
Mission Type (category)
Robotic / Uncrewed Mission 1
Connections

Operated By

Soviet space program, Space Agencies and Companies
Source Wikipedia (space and spaceflight articles)
Sources
1. Wikipedia (space and spaceflight articles)
Wikimedia Foundation
  • Wikipedia: Vega program, lead section
    Vega 1 and Vega 2 were uncrewed spacecraft launched in a cooperative effort among the Soviet Union in December 1984.
  • Wikipedia: Vega program, mission list
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