dipper@utastro.UUCP (Debbie Byrd) (08/12/85)
A pretty sight awaits you if you get up early Tuesday morning. More -- after this. August 12 Venus and the Moon The two brightest objects in the night sky can be seen right next to each other before the sun comes up on Tuesday. The moon and the planet Venus will appear in the east before dawn -- a bright crescent and the brilliant so-called "morning star" -- easy to see whether you live in a rural area -- or in the city. Two Soviet spaceprobes recently visited Venus -- to measure the winds and sample the rocks of that other world. The two probes were dropped off at Venus by motherships on their way to yet another member of our solar system, Comet Halley. The probes penetrated the atmosphere of Venus earlier this summer, while the motherships sped on toward encounters with Halley next March. Each venusian probe opened up to release a landing craft -- plus an automatically-inflating helium balloon. The landing craft went directly to the surface of Venus, where they were supposed to learn about the composition of venusian rocks and minerals. Meanwhile, the balloons remained high in the atmosphere. They were monitored from Earth while they soared on the fierce venusian winds, cruising high above some eight thousand miles of the planet's surface. This double mission -- to Venus and Comet Halley -- helps prove that the Soviets are fascinated by the brilliant world now so easy to see in Earth's predawn sky. Venus has been the target for at least 15 Soviet space missions. The most recent double mission is called VEGA -- in honor of Venus and Halley -- called Venera and Galley by the Russians. Script by Deborah Byrd. (c) Copyright 1984, 1985 McDonald Observatory, University of Texas at Austin