Engineering topics
Publications and source records attributed to Lipatov, A. N..
The VEGA Venus balloon radio transmissions received on earth were used to measure the motion of the balloons and to obtain the data recorded by onboard sensors measuring atmospheric characteristics. Thus the balloons themselves, the gondolas, the onboard sensors, and the radio transmission system were all components of the experiment. A description of these elements is given, and a few details of data sampling and formatting are discussed.
The Vega balloon experiment, designed to measure the dynamics of the Venus atmosphere, comprised the balloons themselves, their gondolas with on-board sensors and radio transmitters, and the radio telescope network on the earth. The structures and the physical parameters of the balloon probe are described, together with the instruments on the gondola, designed for the measurements of the atmospheric pressure, temperature, and vertical wind flows, and illumination, as well as possible flashes of lightning. Consideration is also given to the formatting of the information flow for the individual parameters measured.
The Vega balloons transmitted in situ measurements of pressure, temperature, vertical wind velocity relative to the balloon craft, cloud-particle backscatter coefficient, and ambient light level in the Venus middle cloud layer. Doppler tracking has yielded estimates for the velocities of atmospheric motion.
Thermal structure measurements obtained by the two Vega balloons show the Venus atmosphere in the middle cloud layer to be near-adiabatic, on the whole; but discrete air masses are present that differ slightly from one another in potential temperature and entropy. The Vega 1 temperatures are 6.5 K warmer than measured by Vega 2 at given pressures. Measurements taken by the Vega 2 lander on descent through these levels agree with the Vega 2 balloon data.
Eight analyses of the atmosphere of Venus were made beginning at an altitude of 42 km right down to the surface of the planet. The following were detected in the atmosphere of Venus: nitrogen in concentrations of 2.5 plus or minus 0.5 volumetric %, argon ir concentrations (4 plus or minus 2) x 10 to the minus 3 power volumetric %, CO--(2.8 plus or minus 1.4) x 10 to the minus 3 power volumetric % and SO2 in concentrations (1.3 plus or minus 0.6) x 10 to the minus 2 power volumetric %. The upper limits were estimated for the content of oxygen and water equal to 2 x 10 to the minus 3 power and 10 to the minus 2 power volumetric %, respectively.