1970-065A
The V-70 No. 631 probe was launched five days after No. 630. It was successfully placed in Earth parking orbit, but the Blok-L fourth stage ignited late and shut down after only 25 seconds due to sequencer and power supply failures, and the probe remained in elliptical Earth orbit. It was given the name Kosmos-359. Tranmissions from the fourth stage were tracked in Sweden on the second orbit, by which time it was tumbling.
The BOZ and the Blok-I entered low orbit; one of them was cataloged as 65B and the other one was missed - not clear which. 65A is probably the Venus probe. 65C, D and E began in the elliptical orbt assocated with the probe; two decayed quickly - including 65C which Space-Track labels as the Blok-L stage, which I find unlikely. 65D is the densest object from the launch and remained in orbit for over a year. It is probably either the Blok L stage or the Venus entry capsule. If it is the latter then the Blok-L might have remained attached to the main Venus probe as object A.
| Kosmos-359 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 Aug 22 | 0506:09 | Launch by 8K78M | KB LC31 |
| 0510? | Blok-I burn | ||
| 0515? | Blok-I sep | 89.49 207 x 298 x 51.80 | |
| 0627 | Blok-L burn | ||
| 0627 | Blok-L shutdown, premature | ||
| 0631? | Blok-L sep | ||
| 1970 Aug 24 | 0700 | 95.57 208 x 890 x 51.13 (RAE) | |
| 1970 Aug 26 | 1034 | 95.38 207 x 866 x 51.1 | |
| 1970 Nov 6 | 0614? | Reentered | |
| 1971 Oct 6 | 65D reentered | ||
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