Has a spacecraft ever landed on Venus?

Yes, several landers from the former Soviet Union have landed on Venus. They were only able to send us information for a short time because the extremely high temperature and pressure on the surface of Venus melted and crushed the landers. On December 15, 1970 an unmanned Soviet spacecraft, Venera 7, became the first spacecraft to land on another planet. It measured the temperature of the atmosphere on Venus. In 1972, Venera 8 gathered atmospheric and surface data for 50 minutes after landing. On Oct. 22, 1975, Venera 9 landed on the surface of Venus. It took the first close-up photograph of the planet's surface. Three days later Venera 10 landed on Venus. Venera 10 took photographs of its surface and studied its rocks. In December 1978, Venera 11 and Venera 12 landed on Venus and sent back more data on the atmosphere of Venus. Venera 12 sent back data for 110 minutes (the longest of any Venera lander) before the effects of heat and pressure ended its mission. In March 1982 two more Soviet spacecraft landed on Venus - Venera 13 and Venera 14. They sent back images and studied soil.


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