| Venus was the first planet to ever be reached by a space probe. In 1962, Mariner 2 flew within 34,400 kilometers of the surface of Venus and transmitted to Earth information about its temperature and details about its atmosphere and rotational period. The Soviet probe, Venera 7 was the first probe to land on Venus. Unfortunately, it was put out of operation within an hour by Venus' high temperature. In 1982, Venera 13 transmitted the first color pictures from Venus' surface. The Orbiter of Pioneer Venus was launched on May 20, 1978. It entered an orbit around Venus in December of that same year. Its primary objectives were to investigate the solar wind in the Venusian environment, use radar imaging to map Venus' surface and study the characteristics of the Venusian upper atmosphere and ionosphere. Most of the Orbiter instruments were still working when the probe entered the Venusian atmosphere in October of 1992. The Magellan spacecraft, launched in 1989, arrived at Venus on August 10, 1990. Before its demise in October 1994, Magellan was able to collect radar images of 98% of Venus' surface. |
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