* May 16 – Venera program: Venera 5, a Soviet spaceprobe, lands on Venus.

* November 16 – Venera program: The Soviet Union launches the Venera 3 space probe from Baikonur, Kazakhstan toward Venus ( on March 1, 1966 it became the first spacecraft to reach the surface of another planet ).

They included a transfer and relay bus that had engines to brake into Venus orbit ( Venera 9 and 10, 15 and 16 ) and to serve as receiver and relay for the entry probe's transmissions.

Venera 15 and 16 were similar to previous probes, but replaced the entry probes with surface imaging radar equipment.

For example, after analyzing the radar images returned from Venera 15 and 16, it was concluded that the ridges and grooves on the surface of Venus were the result of tectonic deformations.

* Venera 3 – 16 November 1965 – Venus lander ( contact lost ) – First spacecraft to reach another planet's surface, First Venus impact

** Venera 16

Venera 15 / 16

Venera 4V-2 () was a series of two identical spacecraft sent to Venus by the Soviet Union, consisting of Venera 15 and Venera 16.

Venera 15 was launched on June 2, 1983 at 02: 38: 39 UTC, and Venera 16 on June 7, 1983 at 02: 32: 00 UTC.

Venera 15 and Venera 16 both reached Venus ' orbit ( on October 10, 1983 and October 14, 1983 respectively ).

No transmissions were possible, so the orbit of Venera 16 was rotated back 20 ° at this time to map the areas missed during this period.

The Venera 15 and 16 spacecraft were identical and were based on modifications to the orbiter portions of the Venera 9 and Venera 14 probes.

Both Venera 15 and 16 were equipped with a Synthetic Aperture Radar ( SAR ).

* Venera 16

* Venera 16 ( National Space Science Data Center, NASA )

* 1970 – Venera program: Venera 7 launched.

* 1970 – Soviet spacecraft Venera 7 successfully land on Venus.

* 1961 – U. S. S. R. launches Venera 1 towards Venus.

* 1967 – Venera program: Venera 4 is launched ( it will become the first space probe to enter another planet's atmosphere and successfully return data ).

* 1966 – Venera 3 Soviet space probe crashes on Venus becoming the first spacecraft to land on another planet's surface.

* 1969 – Venera program: Soviet Venera 6 begins its descent into the atmosphere of Venus, sending back atmospheric data before being crushed by pressure.

* 1969 – Venera program: Venera 5, a Soviet spaceprobe, lands on Venus.

* 1965 – Venera program: the Soviet Union launches the Venera 3 space probe toward Venus, that will be the first spacecraft to reach the surface of another planet.

* 1975 – The Soviet unmanned space mission Venera 9 lands on Venus.

* January 5 – The Soviet Union launches Venera 5 toward Venus.

* May 17 – Venera program: Soviet probe Venera 6 begins to descend into Venus ' atmosphere, sending back atmospheric data before being crushed by pressure.

* February 12 – The U. S. S. R. launches Venera 1 towards Venus.

* May 19 – Venera 1 becomes the first man-made object to fly-by another planet by passing Venus ( however, the probe had lost contact with Earth a month earlier and does not send back any data ).

* August 17 – Venera program: Venera 7 is launched.

** The USSR's Venera 7 becomes the first spacecraft to land successfully on Venus and transmit data back to Earth.

* 1970 – The Venera 7 Venus lander sends back the first information ever successfully obtained from the surface of another planet

Venera 7 lander

Among the other results, probes of the series became the first man-made devices to enter the atmosphere of another planet ( Venera 4 on October 18, 1967 ), to make a soft landing on another planet ( Venera 7 on December 15, 1970 ), to return images from the planetary surface ( Venera 9 on June 8, 1975 ), and to perform high-resolution radar mapping studies of Venus ( Venera 15 on June 2, 1983 ).

The Venera 7 probe was the first one designed to survive Venus surface conditions and to make a soft landing.

The Doppler measurements of the Venera 4 to 7 probes were the first evidence of the existence of high-speed zonal winds ( up to or 225mph ) in the Venus atmosphere ( super rotation ).

The cruise bus of Venera 7 and 8 was similar to that of earlier ones, with the design ascending to the Zond 3 mission.

Venera 7 – First Venus lander

* Venera 7 – 17 August 1970 – First Venus lander

** Venera 7

** Venera 7

Venera 16 was launched on June 7, 1983 at 02: 32: 00 UTC and reached Venus ' orbit on October 11, 1983.

The SIGNE 2 detectors were simultaneously flown on Venera 12 and Prognoz 7 to allow triangulation of gamma ray sources.

The SIGNE 2 detectors were simultaneously flown on Venera 12 and Prognoz 7 to allow triangulation of gamma ray sources.