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Multiple visits to the same body by the same spacecraft (e.g. GEM) do not count as multiple missions (even if they do require multiple visits to Capitol Hill for funding). Multiple visits to different primaries do. A mere gravity assist maneuver without science return doesn't really count as a mission, either - a "flyby" requires at least one instrument to be pointed in the general direction of the celestial body. This was not an accounting issue until a few Big Science missions (e.g. Galileo, Project Vega) flew some very complex trajectories with multiple gravity assists.
Note that some missions above are grouped in pairs or sets, others are not. This is to reflect the Soviet practice of launching rendundant spacecraft in order to assure mission success. Notice also that there are no active assets in orbit around Venus, AFAIK. Perhaps Terran scientists have seen as much of Hell (or closest facsimile thereof) as they care to.
Credit goes out to TRW Space Log 1957-1996, The Planetary Report published by The Planetary Society, Proton Mission Planner's Manual, and Jonathan's Space Report. A tip o' the #4 amber solar filter-IR illuminator-battery acid rebreather to David Portree DSFPortree@aol.com for his sharp eyes.
4th stage failure stranded Venus impactor mission in LEO. Payload & upper stage reentered 26Feb1961 (8K78 Molniya).
First "automatic station" to launch from parking orbit. Contact lost with Venus impactor mission @ 7,800,000 km out. In solar orbit; upper stage reentered 25Feb1961.
Destroyed by range safety (Atlas-Agena B).
4th stage failure stranded Venus lander in LEO. Payload & upper stage reentered 28Aug1962 (8K78 Molniya).
Flyby of Venus @ 34,745 km on ?. Discovered thick, hot atmosphere and hellish surface. Died on 03Jan1963 at 86,700,000 km from Earth. In solar orbit.
4th stage failure stranded Venus lander in LEO. Payload & upper stage reentered 06Sep1962 (8K78 Molniya).
4th stage failure stranded Venus flyby mission in LEO. Payload & upper stage reentered 14Sep1962 (8K78 Molniya).
Flyby mission failed to attain orbit due to 3rd stage (8K78M Molniya).
4th stage failure stranded Venus lander in LEO. Payload & upper stage reentered 28Mar1964 (8K78M Molniya).
Landing mission failed enroute. In solar orbit.
Flew by Venus @ 24,000 km on 27Feb1966 but data return failed. In solar orbit.
First human artifact to impact another planet. Lander crashed at xx N x yyy W on 1Mar1966, data return failed.
4th stage failure stranded Venus flyby mission in LEO. Payload & upper stage reentered 09Dec1965 (8K78M Molniya).
Entered Venusian atmosphere 18Oct1967. Lander tx'd 94 min. of temp., press., chemical composition data during slow single parachute descent, crushed at 18 atm (z = ~28 km) before impacting at xx? N? x yyy W?.
Flyby of Venus @ 3990 km, in solar orbit, died when?
Venus lander mission failed in LEO. Payload & upper stage reentered 25Jun1967 (8K78M Molniya).
Orbiter?
Descent capsule entered Venusian atmosphere 16May1969. Fast small parachute & aero descent, survived deeper than Venera 4. Imploded at 25 atm (z = ~26 km) before crashing at xx? N? x yyy W?.
Orbiter?
Descent capsule entered Venusian atmosphere 17May1969. Fast small parachute & aero descent, survived deeper than Venera 4. Imploded at 45? atm (z = ~11 km) before crashing at xx? N? x yyy W?.
Orbiter?
First successful landing on Venus.
Lander entered Venusian atmosphere 15Dec1970, triple parachute descent, tx'd 23 minutes from surface at xx N? x yyy W?.
See a video of this innovative chute system in action on our Russians in Space v2.1 hybrid CD-ROM for Wintel & Mac O/S.
4th stage failure stranded mission in LEO. Reentered 06Nov1970 (8K78M Molniya).
Orbiter?
Lander entered Venusian atmosphere 22Jul1972, triple parachute descent, tx'd data from surface at ?? N x ??? W in NAVKA PLANITIA for nn? minutes.
4th stage failure stranded mission in elliptical transfer orbit. Eventually reentered 05May1981 (8K78M Molniya).
Flyby of Venus at ? km on 05Feb1974, triple flyby of Mercury in1974. Bus ceased tx at ? km on when? In solar orbit.
Mission launched on 8K82K (Proton aka UR-500) rocket rather than 8K78M (Molniya) due to greater mass.
Orbiter in circumvenusian orbit, died mid-1976.
Lander entered Venusian atmosphere 0513 22Oct1975, triple parachute descent, landed 2200 km N of Venera-10 at xx N? x yyy W? in northeastern BETA REGIO. First live TV pictures tx'd from surface of another planet for 53 mins (the bad images from Mars 3 don't really count).
Orbiter in circumvenusian orbit, died mid-1976.
Lander entered Venusian atmosphere 25Oct1975, triple parachute descent, landed 2200 km S of Venera-9 at xx N? x yyy W? in southeastern BETA REGIO. Tx'd TV pictures from surface for 67 mins. Next launch window in winter 1976-77 skipped due to time required to incorporate science return into new mission design.
Entered venusian orbit ?Sep1978?, decayed 09?Oct1992. Mapped 90% of surface with radar altimeter. Click here for full tech specs.
Bus dropped one large and three small sondes into atmosphere before burning up on reentry 09Dec1978. Returned data on cloud structure, temp gradient, & winds aloft. Fifth probe returned surface data for one hour after impact at xx N? x yyy W?
Bus in solar orbit
Lander entered Venusian atmosphere 25Dec1978, parachute & aero? descent, imager failed but tx'd data from surface for 95 mins at xx N? x yyy W?.
Bus in solar orbit
Lander entered Venusian atmosphere 21Dec1978, parachute & aero? descent, imager OK, tx'd data from surface for 110 mins at xx N? x yyy W?.
Bus in solar orbit
Lander entered Venusian atmosphere 27Feb1982, parachute & aero descent, landed 950 km NE of Venera 14 at 7.5 ° 30 min S, 303 ° E, just east of eastern extension of elevated region known as PHOEBE REGIO, tx'd soil analysis, b/w & color pix from surface for 127 mins. Return to Venus map.
Bus in solar orbit
Lander entered Venusian atmosphere 05Mar1982, parachute & aero descent, landed 950 km SW of Venera 13 near eastern flank of PHOEBE REGIO @13 ° 15 min S × 310 ° E, tx'd soil analysis, b/w & color pix from surface for 57 mins. Return to Venus map.
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This color image of the hellish surface of Venus was sent back by the descent capsule from Venera 13. Pressure = 93 bar, temperature = 900 F, clouds of sulfuric and hydrofluoric acid vapor. The carbon dioxide atmosphere is so thick that the horizon appears to bend upward due to strong refraction, i.e. the observer would seem to be at the bottom of a bowl. Image copyright 1994-2000, courtesy of our Russians in Space v2.1 hybrid CD-ROM for Wintel & Mac O/S. Order it today!
Radar mapper @ ~1 km res, arrived in 24-hr circumvenusian orbit on 10Oct1983, mapped northern hemisphere.
Radar mapper @ ~1 km res arrived in 24-hr circumvenusian orbit on 14Oct1983, mapped northern hemisphere.
One of these operated thru Nov 1984. Additional reading about the Soviets' superb luck on Venus (as opposed to their paradoxically awful luck on Mars) can be found at "The Soviets and Venus" by Larry Klaes of the Boston NSS chapter:
EJASA Feb 1993,
EJASA Mar 1993, and
EJASA Apr 1993.
Joint mission released balloon probe which traveled thru upper atmosphere for 50 hrs & 10,000 km, finally dropping 09Jun1985
Lander failed, impacted? 11Jun1985 @7 ° N × 178 ° E.
Bus flew by planet @ ?? km on 10Jun1985.
Flew by HALLEY'S COMET 06-07 Mar1986 @ 8200 km, returned 1200 TV pix.
Joint mission released balloon probe which traveled thru upper atmosphere for 50 hrs & 10,000 km, finally dropping 15Jun1985;
Descent capsule landed 15Jun1985 @ 6 ° 30 min S × 181.5 ° E.
Bus flew by planet @ ?? km on 14Jun1985.
Flew by HALLEY'S COMET @ 10,000? km on 09Mar1986.
See Inner System missions for add'l details on Vega 1 & 2. Note: Project Vega was not named for the star, as you might think, rather it was a Russian acronym for VEnera-GAllei (Venus-Halley). To the Russian ear, the English consonant "H" sounds like a hard "G", (e.g. "alcohol" becomes "alkogol") so that's how it's transliterated.
Launched from Space Shuttle Atlantis 04May1989,
Orbiter arrived 10Aug1990, SAR mapping @ 100 m res of 98% of planet, aerobraking from 3.25 hr to 1.57 hr gravity mapping orbit 03Aug1993, entered Venusian atmosphere 13Oct1994. See also Magellan: The Unveiling of Venus.
In a final glorious act, Magellan was commanded to burn up in the atmosphere in order to test theories about orbital modification via aerobraking. This gift of science was put to direct use in the Mars Global Surveyor mission, among others.
Robotic interplanetary probe to JUPITER on circuitous six-year trajectory with multiple gravity assists, launch delayed by Challenger disaster, launched from Shuttle Atlantis in LEO (STS-34) on IUS.
Flew by VENUS @ 60X Cassini flyby on 09Feb1990; returned radio science.
Flew by EARTH twice - @ ? km on 08Dec1990 and @ ? km on 08Dec1992.
Flew by several asteroids.
Arrived at JUPITER on 07Dec1995. Now active in circumjovian orbit. See Outer System missions for details and discoveries.
Likely last of NASA's Big Science missions. Robotic interplanetary probe to SATURN on roundabout seven-year gravity assisted trajectory, launched on Titan IVB
Two flybys of VENUS for gravity assist - first @ 284 km on 26Apr1998, second @ ? km on 24Jun1999; searched for lighting with RPWS expt, found none
Flew by EARTH @ 725? km on 18Aug1999, control tested lightning detection
Flew by asteroid(s);
Flew by JUPITER @ 10 million km on 30Dec2000,
will arrive at SATURN on 01Jul2004. See Outer System missions for full details on Cassini. Return to Venus map.
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