Venera 7

Venera 7

Venera 7 was a Soviet spacecraft, part of the Venera series of probes to Venus. When it landed on the Venusian surface on 15 December 1970, it became the first spacecraft to soft land on another planet. The probe transmitted information to Earth for 53 minutes, which included about 20 minutes from the surface.

About Venera 7 in brief

Summary Venera 7Venera 7 was a Soviet spacecraft, part of the Venera series of probes to Venus. When it landed on the Venusian surface on 15 December 1970, it became the first spacecraft to soft land on another planet. The probe transmitted information to Earth for 53 minutes, which included about 20 minutes from the surface. The spacecraft definitively confirmed that humans cannot survive on the surface of Venus, and excluded the possibility that there is any liquid water on Venus.

The lander was designed to be able to survive pressure of up to 180 bars and temperatures of 580 °C. This was significantly greater than what was expected to be encountered but significant uncertainties as to the surface temperatures and pressure of Venus resulted in the designers’ opting for a large margin of error.