Radar observations of Venus and their application to interplanetary flights - Results of 1978 observations

The objectives of the radar observations of Venus are defined with respect to their usefulness for interplanetary flights. Consideration is given to a numerical theory of the motion of Venus and the earth, based on the radar observations of Venus over the period 1962-1977. The measurements of the distance and velocity of Venus obtained from the 1978 observations are presented. The deviations of the measured distances from the values calculated on the basis of the numerical theory are found to be within 6 km, compared to deviations from the classical theory of up to 500 km. It is suggested that for interplanetary flights theories based on radar measurements should be used, rather than classical theories.