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.

Venus - The Venera Programme

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
Venera 1 (a) (Memorial Museum of Astronautics).JPG
N/A
Venera 2MV-1 No.1 Atmospheric probe August 25, 1962 N/A N/A Escape stage failed; Re-entered three days later Venera 1962 diagramm.jpg N/A
Venera 2MV-1 No.2 Atmospheric probe September 1, 1962 N/A N/A Escape stage failed; Re-entered five days later Venera 1962 diagramm.jpg N/A
Venera 2MV-2 No.1 Flyby September 12, 1962 N/A N/A Third stage exploded; Spacecraft destroyed Venera 1962 diagramm.jpg 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.
Venera 4 (MMA 2011) (1).JPG
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. Venera 1962 diagramm.jpg 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.
"Венера-10".jpg
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. Vega model - Udvar-Hazy Center.JPG 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.

 

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