Pioneer Venus Oribter
An artist's impression of the Pioneer Venus Oribter. (Credit: NASA)
Lifetime: May 1978 - October 1992
Country (primary): United States
Primary Science
The Pioneer Venus Oribiter, or PVO for short, was a spacecraft sent to Venus to study the solar wind in the region around Venus, to map Venus' surface through a radar imaging system, and study Venus' upper atmosphere and ionosphere.
High Energy Science
The Pioneer Venus Orbiter's payload included a gamma-ray burst detctor.
Science Highlights
- Detected several hundred gamma-ray bursts
- Distribution of the observed gamma-ray bursts was consistent with a uniform distribution in space