The Venera (Russian: Вене́ра, pronounced [vʲɪˈnʲɛrə] 'Venus') program was a series of space probes developed by the Soviet Union between 1961 and 1984 to gather information about the planet Venus.

There have been 46 space missions to the planet Venus (including gravity-assist flybys). Missions to Venus constitute part of the exploration of Venus. The Soviet Union, followed by the United States, have soft landed probes on the surface. Venera 7 was the first lander overall and first for the Soviet Union, touching down on 15 December 1970.

Only four spacecraft have ever returned images from Venus’ surface. The world next door doesn’t make it easy, with searing heat and crushing pressure that quickly destroy any lander. In 1975 and 1982, four of the Soviet Union’s Venera probes captured our only images of Venus’ surface.

Sep 18, 2020 · No longer confined to territories here on Earth, Russia has now staked its claim on Venus, saying it is a “Russian planet.”

During almost every launch window, a new Soviet research station was launched to Venus. However, in the absence of even an approximate idea of the real state of affairs on the planet, the probes...

Venera 13 (Russian: Венера-13 'Venus 13') was part of the Soviet Venera program meant to explore Venus. Venera 13 and 14 were identical spacecraft built to take advantage of the 1981 Venus launch opportunity.

Sep 12, 2021 · Launched between 1961 and 1983, the Venera (or "Venus" in Russian") missions were focused on studying the second planet from our sun. Of the 28 spacecraft launched, 13 entered the Venusian...

Venera, or Venus in English, often seems to be an overlooked planet in our solar system. In truth, it held a lot of attraction to the Soviet Union during the space race, and they worked hard to get probes to our similarly-sized neighbor. In the early 60s, public interest was on getting people into space and the moon.

Aug 26, 2020 · Beginning at the dawn of the Space Age in the late 1950s, the Soviets worked to design and construct a series of Venus probes. And for almost 30 years, they built and flew the interplanetary...

Mar 27, 2022 · Between 1961 and 1983, the Soviet Union made strides in the space race with its exploration of Venus, launching 28 spacecraft as part of its Venera program. Venera-8 was not only the second...