Spacecraft that Explored the Inner Planets Venus and Mercury

A series of increasingly capable spacecraft were sent to explore the inner planets Venus and Mercury. The history of that planetary exploration is traced in this book along with the evolution of sophisticated spacecraft that unveiled long-sought secrets of the planets. The spacecraft were ingenious and reflected the best efforts of talented people working with the available technology of the day. Additionally, this book showcases engineering involved in those capable machines.

A consecutive series of 34 planetary spacecraft, which span the time period 1961 to 2021, are described. This includes the unsuccessful missions of several early spacecraft that paved the way for a better understanding of Venus’ hostile environments. This book will describe many successful spacecraft sent to Venus by the Soviet Union and many successful spacecraft sent to Venus and to Mercury by the United States.

The recent exploration of Venus by the European Space Agency’s Venus Express and the Japanese spacecraft Akatsuki can also be found in this book.

The author draws on over 50 years of experience on aircraft and spacecraft systems to tell the story of these planetary spacecraft. The spacecraft experience includes being the technical lead for the landing radars on the Surveyor and Apollo lunar landers as well as providing analyses for the rendezvous radar for the Space Shuttle. Practical engineering experience is augmented by Master’s degrees in electrical engineering, physics, and business administration.

Chapter1. The Planets of the Sun.- Chapter2. Launch Vehicles for Planetary Spacecraft.- Chapter3. Soviet Union Spacecraft that Explored Venus 1960–1961.- Chapter4. U.S. Spacecraft that Explored Venus 1960–1980.- Chapter5. Soviet Union Spacecraft that Explored Venus 1980–1990.- Chapter6. U.S. Magellan Spacecraft that Explored Venus 1980–2020.- Chapter7. U.S. Spacecraft that Explored Mercury: Mariner 10 and Messenger.- Chapter8. Japanese and European Space Agency Spacecraft that Explored Venus 2005–2020 Index.

The author draws on over 50 years of experience with aircraft and spacecraft systems to tell the story of these unique planetary spacecraft. Lund was technical lead for the landing radars on the Surveyor and Apollo spacecraft and performed system design and analysis for radars on the Viking spacecraft and Space Shuttle. He led the development of radar altimeters for military aircraft and also performed system design and analysis of aircraft navigation systems. He served three years as Electronics Officer in the U.S. Navy tasked with evaluating electronic countermeasures against air-to-air missiles.