Editing Venera 1 (section)

==Spacecraft==
''Venera 1'' was a {{convert|643.5|kg|adj=on}} probe consisting of a cylindrical body {{convert|1.05|m}} in diameter topped by a dome, totalling {{convert|2.035|m}} in height. This was pressurized to {{convert|1.2|atm}} with dry nitrogen, with internal fans to maintain even distribution of heat.{{citation needed|date=January 2013}} Two solar panels extended from the cylinder, charging a bank of [[silver-zinc battery|silver-zinc batteries]]. A {{convert|2|m|adj=on}} parabolic wire-mesh antenna was designed to send data from Venus to Earth on a frequency of 922.8&nbsp;MHz. A {{convert|2.4|m|adj=on}} antenna boom was used to transmit short-wave signals during the near-Earth phase of the mission. Semidirectional [[quadrupole]] antennas mounted on the solar panels provided routine telemetry and telecommand contact with Earth during the mission, on a circularly-polarized decimetre radio band.

The probe was equipped with scientific instruments including a flux-gate [[magnetometer]] attached to the antenna boom, two [[ion trap]]s to measure solar wind, [[micrometeorite]] detectors, and [[Geiger counter]] tubes and a sodium iodide [[scintillator]] for measurement of cosmic radiation. An experiment attached to one solar panel measured temperatures of experimental coatings. Infrared and/or ultraviolet radiometers may have been included. The dome contained a [[KDU-414]] engine used for mid-course corrections. Temperature control was achieved by motorized thermal shutters.

During most of its flight, ''Venera 1'' was spin stabilized. It was the first spacecraft designed to perform mid-course corrections, by entering a mode of 3-axis stabilization, fixing on the Sun and the star [[Canopus]]. Had it reached Venus, it would have entered another mode of 3-axis stabilization, fixing on the [[Sun]] and [[Earth]], and using for the first time a parabolic antenna to relay data.