Venus – The Venera Programme

Venus – The Venera Programme – The Soviet Union sent landers to Venus in the 70s which managed to send back images of the surface.

Venus – The Venera Programme – Rather than compete with the US Mars missions, The Soviet Union turned its attention to Venus in the 70s and managed to take the first pictures on the surface of another world with the Venera landers. Ten probes from the Venera series successfully landed on Venus and transmitted data from the  surface . In addition, thirteen Venera probes successfully transmitted data from the atmosphere of Venus.

Model of a Venera Lander

Venus – The Venera Programme -Flight data for all Venera missions Courtesy of Wikipedia

Name	Mission	Launch	Arrival	Survival time min	Results	Orbiter or probe (flyby, atmospheric)	Lander coordin.
1VA (proto-Venera)	Flyby	February 4, 1961	N/A	N/A	Failed to leave earth orbit		N/A
Venera 1	Flyby	February 12, 1961	N/A	N/A	Communications lost en route to Venus		N/A
Venera 2MV-1 No.1	Atmospheric probe	August 25, 1962	N/A	N/A	Escape stage failed; Re-entered three days later		N/A
Venera 2MV-1 No.2	Atmospheric probe	September 1, 1962	N/A	N/A	Escape stage failed; Re-entered five days later		N/A
Venera 2MV-2 No.1	Flyby	September 12, 1962	N/A	N/A	Third stage exploded; Spacecraft destroyed		N/A
Venera 3MV-1 No.2	Flyby	February 19, 1964	N/A	N/A	Did not reach parking orbit		N/A
Kosmos 27	Flyby	March 27, 1964	N/A	N/A	Escape stage failed		N/A
Venera 2	Flyby	November 12, 1965	N/A	N/A	Communications lost just before arrival		N/A
Venera 3	Atmospheric probe	November 16, 1965	N/A	N/A	Communications lost just before atmospheric entry. This was the first manmade object to land on another planet on March 1966 (crash). Probable landing region: -20° to 20° N, 60° to 80° E.		N/A
Kosmos 96	Atmospheric probe	November 23, 1965	N/A	N/A	Failed to leave Earth orbit and reentered the atmosphere. Believed by some researchers to have crashed near Kecksburg, Pennsylvania, USA on December 9, 1965, an event which became known as the “Kecksburg Incident” among UFO researchers. All Soviet spacecraft that never left Earth orbit, were customarily renamed “Kosmos” regardless of the craft’s intended mission. The name is also given to other Soviet/Russian spacecraft that are intended to—and do reach Earth orbit.		N/A
Venera 4	Atmospheric probe	June 12, 1967	October 18, 1967	N/A	The first probe to enter another planet’s atmosphere and return data. Although it did not transmit from the surface, this was the first interplanetary broadcast of any probe. Landed somewhere near latitude 19° N, longitude 38° E.		N/A
Kosmos 167	Atmospheric probe	June 17, 1967	N/A	N/A	Escape stage failed; Re-entered eight days later		N/A
Venera 5	Atmospheric probe	January 5, 1969	May 16, 1969	53*	Successfully returned atmospheric data before being crushed by pressure within 26 kilometres (16 mi) of the surface. Landed at 3° S, 18° E.		N/A
Venera 6	Atmospheric probe	January 10, 1969	May 17, 1969	51*	Successfully returned atmospheric data before being crushed by pressure within 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) of the surface. Landed at 5° S, 23° E.		N/A
Venera 7	Lander	August 17, 1970	December 15, 1970	23	The first successful landing of a spacecraft on another planet, and the first broadcast from another planet’s surface. Survived for 23 minutes before succumbing to heat and pressure.		5°S351°E
Kosmos 359	Lander	August 22, 1970	N/A	N/A	Escape stage failed; Ended up in an elliptical Earth orbit	N/A	N/A
Venera 8	Lander	March 27, 1972	July 22, 1972	50	Landed within a 150 kilometres (93 mi) radius of 10.70° S, 335.25° E.		10°S335°E
Kosmos 482	Probe	March 31, 1972	N/A	N/A	Escape stage exploded during Trans-Venus injection; Some pieces re-entered and others remained in Earth orbit	N/A	N/A
Venera 9	Orbiter and Lander	June 8, 1975	October 22, 1975	53	Sent back the first (black and white) images of Venus’ surface. Landed within a 150 kilometres (93 mi) radius of 31.01° N, 291.64° E.		31°N291°E
Venera 10	Orbiter and Lander	June 14, 1975	October 25, 1975	65	Landed within a 150 kilometres (93 mi) radius of 15.42° N, 291.51° E.		15°42′N291°51′E
Venera 11	Flyby and Lander	September 9, 1978	December 25, 1978	95	The lander arrived, but the imaging systems failed.		14°S299°E
Venera 12	Flyby and Lander	September 14, 1978	December 21, 1978	110	The lander recorded what is thought to be lightning.		07°S294°E
Venera 13	Flyby and Lander	October 30, 1981	March 1, 1982	127	Returned the first colour images of Venus’ surface, and discovered leucite basalt in a soil sample using a spectrometer.		07°05′S303°00′E
Venera 14	Flyby and Lander	November 14, 1981	March 5, 1982	57	A soil sample revealed tholeiitic basalt (similar to that found on Earth‘s mid-ocean ridges).		13°25′S310°00′E
Venera 15	Orbiter	June 2, 1983	October 10, 1983	N/A	Mapped (along with Venera 16) the northern hemisphere down to 30 degrees from North (resolution 1-2 km)		N/A
Venera 16	Orbiter	June 7, 1983	October 14, 1983	N/A	Mapped (along with Venera 15) the northern hemisphere down to 30 degrees from North (resolution 1-2 km)		N/A
Vega 1	Flyby and Lander	December 15, 1984	June 11, 1985	N/A	Part of the Vega program. The vessel was en route to Halley’s Comet. During entry into atmosphere, the surface instruments began work early, and the lander failed. See Vega 1.		07°05′N177°07′E
Vega 2	Flyby and Lander	December 21, 1984	June 15, 1985	56	Part of the Vega program. The vessel was en route to Halley’s Comet. See Vega 2.