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Dorfman, S. D.

Publications and source records attributed to Dorfman, S. D..

The Pioneer Venus spacecraft program

The Pioneer Venus program consists of two spacecraft: an orbiter and a multiprobe. Both will arrive at Venus in early December 1978. The orbiter will collect data on the upper atmosphere and fields and particles and will sense the clouds and surface remotely from a 75 deg inclined orbit. The multiprobe consists of a bus, three small probes, and a large probe. All five objects will enter the Venus atmosphere and will transmit data on its characteristics directly to earth while descending to the surface. The development of these spacecraft required the solution of many difficult and unique technical problems.

Dorfman, S. D.↗

The Pioneer Venus Spacecraft Program

The Pioneer Venus Program consists of two spacecraft: an Orbiter and a Multiprobe. Both spacecraft will arrive at Venus in early December, 1978. The Orbiter will collect data on the upper atmosphere and fields and particles and will remotely sense the clouds and surface from a 75 deg inclined orbit. The Multiprobe consists of a Bus, three Small Probes, and a Large Probe. All five objects will enter the Venus atmosphere and will transmit data on its characteristics directly back to earth while descending to the surface. The entire mission is expected to substantially increase our knowledge of the planet Venus, especially its atmosphere.

Dorfman, S. D.↗

System design of the Pioneer Venus spacecraft. Volume 1: Executive summary

The NASA Ames Research Center Pioneer Venus Project objective is to conduct scientific investigations of the planet Venus using spin stabilized spacecraft. The defined approach to accomplish this goal is to implement a multiprobe spacecraft mission and an orbiter spacecraft mission. Candidate launch vehicles for the Pioneer Venus missions were the Thor/Delta and Atlas/Centaur. The multiprobe spacecraft consists of a probe bus, one large probe, and three small probes. The probes are designed to survive to the surface of Venus, and to make in situ measurements of the Venusian atmosphere; the probe bus enters the atmosphere and makes scientific measurements until it burns out. The orbiter mission uses a spacecraft designed to orbit Venus for 225 days with an orbit period of about 24 hours (h). The probe bus and orbiter designs are to use a common spacecraft bus.

Dorfman, S. D.↗