ESA - Venus Express - Past missions to Venus

Past missions to Venus


Venera 4, the first spacecraft to return data about the atmosphere of Venus

Despite the intensive past exploration of the planet, our knowledge of Venus is still very limited. Almost all of the planet’s peculiar features remain unexplained, so a new phase in the exploration of Venus is long due.

This important scientific call has been picked up by Europe: after a decade, the ‘Morning Star’ will receive a new visit from Venus Express, an orbiter mission developed by the European Space Agency and due for launch in October 2005.


	The Pioneer Venus spacecraft

NASA's Pioneer Venus mission (1978), the Soviet Union's Venera 15 and 16 missions (1983-1984), and NASA's Magellan radar mapping mission (1990-1994) provided together a comprehensive picture of a dry world, with landscapes shaped by volcanic and intense geological activity. There were vast plains marked by lava flows, bordered by highlands and mountains.


The Soviet Russian Venera 15 spacecraft

Later on, the discovery of the night-side thermal emissions from the deep inside the atmosphere of Venus provided an effective tool to peek through the dense clouds and study the lower atmospheric layers.

The Galileo and Cassini spacecraft were the first to use this phenomena during their short fly-bys en route to Jupiter and Saturn.

But the history of Venus exploration goes back even further...

Mission (year) Type Highlights
Mariner 2
USA, 1962 Atmospheric probe First spacecraft at Venus. Closest distance 35 000 km. No magnetic field detected.
Venera 4
USSR, 1967 Atmospheric probe First probe to return data about atmospheric composition. Crushed by pressure before reaching the surface.
Venera 5 & 6
USSR, 1969 Atmospheric probes Detected presence of atmospheric nitrogen and oxygen. Crushed by pressure before reaching the surface.
Venera 7
USSR, 1970 Lander First successful soft landing of a spacecraft on another planet. Measured surface temperature and pressure.
Venera 8
USSR, 1972 Lander First to measure windspeed as it descended through atmosphere. Surface composition measured by gamma-ray spectrometer.
Mariner 10
USA, 1974 Fly-by First spacecraft to have an imaging system, flew by on way to Mercury in 1974. Recorded atmospheric circulation and cloud-top temperatures.
Venera 9 & 10
USSR, 1975 2 orbiter/landers First spacecraft in orbit around Venus. Landers returned the first black and white panoramic images of surface.
Pioneer Venus 1 & 2
USA, 1978-1992 1 orbiter
4 atmospheric probes Longest mission in orbit around Venus (14 years). First orbiter to make radar map of surface. Measured structure, composition and cloud properties down to 12 km altitude.
Venera 11 & 12
USSR, 1978 Fly-by, 2 landers Landers investigated structure and composition of atmosphere and clouds, measured solar radiation. Atmospheric dynamics were studied by Doppler tracking.
Venera 13 & 14
USSR, 1982 Fly-by, 2 landers Landers returned the first colour panoramic views of the surface. Conducted soil analysis, found leucite basalt (rare on Earth) and tholeiitic basalt .
Venera 15 & 16
USSR, 1983 2 orbiters Radar mapping of the surface. Detailed study of mesosphere and cloud tops by high-resolution thermal emission spectroscopy.
Vega 1 & 2
USSR, 1985 Fly-bys, 1 lander and 1 balloon each En route to Comet Halley, dropped first balloons into atmosphere of another planet, to record winds. Landers provided precise temperature profiles down to surface.
Magellan
USA, 1990-1994 Orbiter First almost-global radar mapping of the surface.
Galileo
USA, 1990 Fly-by en route to Jupiter Spectral imaging of night-side near-infrared emissions. Detection of radio waves possibly emitted by lightning.
Cassini-Huygens
USA/ESA/I, 1998/99 Fly-by en route to Saturn Spectral imaging of night-side near-infrared emissions.

Last update: 25 August 2005

• Looking at Venus (http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Venus_Express/index.html)

Launch replay

• Venus Express launch (mms://esawms.cdnetworks.net/esawms/wmv/Venus_Express_launch_low.wmv)

Related articles

• Venus Express performs flawlessly, LEOP complete (http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Venus_Express/SEMK9UJBWFE_0.html)
• Venus Express mission operations update (http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/ESOC/SEM780738FE_0.html)
• "Venus Express, give me a GO/NO GO for launch..." (http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Venus_Express/SEM6SV638FE_0.html)
• Venus Express: ready for lift-off (http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Venus_Express/SEMAWL638FE_0.html)
• Green light for Venus Express launcher fuelling (http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Venus_Express/SEMJVL638FE_0.html)
• Venus Express countdown activities started (http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Venus_Express/SEM93L638FE_0.html)
• Venus Express moved back to launch pad (http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Venus_Express/SEM24K638FE_0.html)
• Venus Express set for transport to launcher assembly building (http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Venus_Express/SEM1BB6Y3EE_0.html)
• Venus Express mated with upper-stage (http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Venus_Express/SEMTYW5Y3EE_0.html)

More about...

• Status reports (http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=31575 &farchive_objecttypeid=30 &farchive_objectid=30930)
• Launch in detail (http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=31574 &farchive_objecttypeid=31 &farchive_objectid=30928)
• Venus Express factsheet (http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Venus_Express/SEM2EE1A6BD_0.html)

Related links

• Starsem - the Soyuz (http://www.starsem.com/)
• Venus Express operations (http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Operations/SEM7QMQJNVE_0.html)
• Cebreros station webcam (http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Operations/SEM26DSMTWE_0.html)