Mission Overview
  ================
    The main source for this text is the National Space Science Data Center.
    Venera 15 and 16 were a two spacecraft mission primarily designed to
    use 8 cm band side-looking radar mappers to study the surface properties
    of Venus. The primary instruments of each spacecraft were a synthetic
    aperture radar experiment and a radar altimeter experiment. Each
    spacecraft also carried an energetic particles experiment, an infrared
    Fourier spectrometer, and a radio occultation experiment.

  Mission Phases
  ==============

    VENERA 15 LAUNCH
    ----------------

    Venera 15 launched on 1983-06-02 at 02:38:39 UTC from Tyuratam
    (Baikonur Cosmodrome), U.S.S.R. using a Proton booster plus upper stage
    and escape stages.

        Spacecraft Id                  : V15
        Target Name                    : Venus
        Mission Phase Start Time       : 1983-06-02
        Mission Phase Stop Time        : 1983-10-10
        Spacecraft Operations Type     : CRUISE

    VENERA 15 VENUS ORBIT
    ---------------------

    Venera 15 went into orbit around Venus on October 10, 1983,
    and operated for approximately one year. Periapsis radius was
    7080 km and apoapsis radius was 72080 km. Periapsis latitude was
    62 degrees north.

        Spacecraft Id                  : V15
        Target Name                    : Venus
        Mission Phase Start Time       : 1983-10-10
        Mission Phase Stop Time        : UNK
        Spacecraft Operations Type     : ORBIT

    VENERA 16 LAUNCH
    ----------------

    Venera 16 launched on 1983-06-07 at 02:32:00 UTC from Tyuratam
    (Baikonur Cosmodrome), U.S.S.R. using a Proton booster plus upper stage
    and escape stages.

        Spacecraft Id                  : V16
        Target Name                    : Venus
        Mission Phase Start Time       : 1983-06-07
        Mission Phase Stop Time        : 1983-10-11
        Spacecraft Operations Type     : CRUISE

    VENERA 16 VENUS ORBIT
    ---------------------

    Venera 15 went into orbit around Venus on October 11, 1983,
    and operated for approximately one year. Periapsis radius was
    7080 km and apoapsis radius was 72080 km. Periapsis latitude was
    62 degrees north.

        Spacecraft Id                  : V16
        Target Name                    : Venus
        Mission Phase Start Time       : 1983-10-11
        Mission Phase Stop Time        : UNK
        Spacecraft Operations Type     : ORBIT

Mission Objectives Overview
  ===========================

    The primary objectives of the mission were synthetic aperture radar
    mapping and topographic mapping of the surface of Venus. Regions
    poleward of 30 degrees north latitude were mapped during the
    8 months of radar mapping operations.