The magic of the mission

Six of the instruments to be used in NASA's Pioneer Venus program experiments are briefly described. These include the nephelometers aboard the four atmospheric probes, the neutral mass spectrometer carried in the large probe, the cloud particle-size spectrometer aboard the large probe, the large probe's IR radiometer, the cloud photopolarimeter aboard the Orbiter spacecraft, and the Orbiter's radar mapper. The operation, functions, and modes of each instrument are discussed and illustrated. All the instruments contained in the Multiprobe and Orbiter scientific payloads are tabulated along with their objectives.