Yes, We've Seen the Surface of Venus

Venera was a series of satellites launched by the Soviet Union in the 1970s and 1980s to study Venus’ environment. It was also the program aimed at returning the first images of the surface of another planet. Over the course of the program, thirteen probes successfully reached Venus and transmitted data about out planetary neighbour, eight landed successfully on the surface, and four returned pretty outstanding images.



Venera 7, the first orbiter spacecraft with a lander in tow, launched on August 17, 1970. After a four month transit to Venus, the landing probe separated the orbiter on December 15 and plunged into Venus' thick atmosphere. After a period of aerodynamic braking, the upper hatch and heat shield released, exposing the spacecraft the elements and releasing the parachute that slowed the lander. The chute was released six minutes later; Venus’ dense atmosphere was enough to slow the lander for the final 29 minutes of its descent. It landed successfully, Data was transmitted from the surface for one second before the signal failed, but post-flight analysis of the recorded radio signal reveled that the probe had actually transmitted data for 23 minutes before succumbing to Venus’ environment. Venera 8 followed, launching on March 27, 1972. It reached Venus on July 22, 1972, and once it reached the surface it sent back data for 63 minutes.

Venera 9, which launched on June 8, 1975, was the first mission to attempt a photograph of Venus' surface. Though the probe landed in good health on October 22, only one of the lens caps on the two cameras separate. What was planned as a 360-degree panorama around the lander became a 180 degree image. Venera 10 followed in Venera 9’s footsteps, reaching the surface on October 25. Again, only one of the lens caps separated properly returning a 180-degree panoramic image before going silent after 65 minutes on the surface. (Venera 9's panorama is the upper image and Venera 10's is the lower image.)

THE VIEW FROM VENERAS 9 AND 10


The next two missions were partial successes. Venera 11 landed on December 25, and Venera 12 landed on December 21, both in 1978. But in both cases, the lens cap issue struck again. On these two missions, both lens caps on the cameras failed to separate, so while the landers returned data, neither was able to image the surface.

Read more at: https://www.popsci.com/yes-weve-seen-surface-venus#page-2

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