Venera program: missions to Venus and probe landings (1961–1984)

1. Venera 1 launches toward Venus

   Feb 12, 1961Labels: Venera 1, Soviet Union

   • NASA History
   • NSSDC Venera 1

2. Venera 1 flies past Venus without data

   May 19, 1961Labels: Venera 1, Venus flyby

   • NASA History
   • NSSDC Timeline

3. Venera 2 launches for a Venus flyby

   Nov 12, 1965Labels: Venera 2, Flyby mission

   • NSSDC Timeline
   • Venera 2

4. Venera 3 launches the first Venus impact attempt

   Nov 16, 1965Labels: Venera 3, Entry probe

   • NASA Venus
   • Venera 3

5. Venera 3 impacts Venus

   Mar 1, 1966Labels: Venera 3, Venus impact

   • NASA Venus
   • APS

6. Venera 4 launches for atmospheric entry science

   Jun 12, 1967Labels: Venera 4, Atmospheric probe

   • NSSDC Timeline
   • NSSDC Summary

7. Venera 4 returns first in-situ Venus atmosphere data

   Oct 18, 1967Labels: Venera 4, Descent capsule

   • NASA Venus
   • NSSDC Summary

8. Venera 5 enters Venus atmosphere and transmits data

   May 16, 1969Labels: Venera 5, Atmospheric descent

   • Venera 5
   • NSSDC Timeline

9. Venera 6 enters Venus atmosphere and transmits data

   May 17, 1969Labels: Venera 6, Descent probe

   • Venera 6
   • NSSDC Timeline

10. Venera 7 makes first soft landing on another planet

    Dec 15, 1970Labels: Venera 7, Soft landing

    • Venera 7
    • NASA Venus

11. Venera 8 lands and extends surface measurements

    Jul 22, 1972Labels: Venera 8, Surface lander

    • Venera 8
    • NSSDC Timeline

12. Venera 9 returns first images from another planet

    Oct 22, 1975Labels: Venera 9, First images, Orbiter

    • NASA Science
    • NASA Venus

13. Venera 10 lands and returns additional Venus images

    Oct 25, 1975Labels: Venera 10, Surface lander

    • NSSDC V10
    • NASA Venus

14. Venera 11 lands but fails to return images

    Dec 21, 1978Labels: Venera 11, Lander

    • NASA Venus
    • Space StackEx

15. Venera 12 lands but camera covers prevent photos

    Dec 25, 1978Labels: Venera 12, Lander

    • NASA Venus
    • Space StackEx

16. Venera 13 returns first color images from Venus

    Mar 1, 1982Labels: Venera 13, Color images

    • NSSDC V13
    • NASA Venus

17. Venera 14 lands and continues color surface imaging

    Mar 5, 1982Labels: Venera 14, Color lander

    • NASA Venus
    • Space StackEx

18. Venera 15 launches to begin radar mapping

    Jun 2, 1983Labels: Venera 15, Radar orbiter

    • NASA Venus
    • PDS PPI

19. Venera 16 launches as Venera 15’s mapping partner

    Jun 7, 1983Labels: Venera 16, Radar orbiter

    • NASA Venus
    • Venera 16

20. Venera 15 enters Venus orbit for radar survey

    Oct 10, 1983Labels: Venera 15, Venus orbit

    • PDS PPI
    • NASA Venus

21. Venera 15 and 16 complete major Venus radar maps

    Jul 1, 1984Labels: Venera 15, Venera 16

    • ScienceDirect
    • NASA Venus