Closeouts on a Venus spacecraft, a Moon rocket, and desperation at Mars

Abstract

The year 1972 opened with the last launch of a 3MV spacecraft, Venera 8, marking the final use of the Molniya launcher for a Soviet lunar or planetary mission. Using Venera 7’s measurement of the temperature at the surface, and an inferred pressure, the over-engineered descent capsule was simplified to enable Venera 8 to carry more instruments. It was dispatched on March 27 and the lander operated successfully on the surface of Venus. Two other significant closeouts were in 1972, the launch of the fourth N-1 rocket in November whose failure led to that project being canceled, and the final Apollo landing in December.