Sputnik 19
|
|
Sputnik 19 (also known as Alpha Pi 1) was a Soviet Venera-type spacecraft intended to make a landing on Venus. The SL-6/A-2-e launcher put the spacecraft into Earth orbit on August 25, 1962, but the escape stage failed and the probe remained in geocentric orbit for three days until the orbit decayed on August 28 and it re-entered Earth's atmosphere.
US Naval Space Command Satellite Situation Summary identified this vehicle as Sputnik 23.