
Past Missions

Table of Past Successful Missions
Mariner 2
(P-38)
27 August 1962
NASA
United States
Flyby
Successful
Flyby on 14 December 1962
Atlas-LV3 Agena-B
Venera 4
(4V-1 No.310)
12 June 1967
Lavochkin
Soviet Union
Atmospheric
Successful
Returned atmospheric data during entry on 18 October 1967.
Never intended to work on surface[7]
Molniya-M
Mariner 5
14 June 1967
NASA
United States
Flyby
Successful
Flyby on 19 October 1967, closest approach at 17:34:56 UTC[8]
Atlas SLV-3 Agena-D
Venera 5
(4V-1 No.330)
5 January 1969
Lavochkin
Soviet Union
Atmospheric
Successful
Entered atmosphere on 16 May 1969, operated for 53 minutes
Molniya-M
Venera 6
(4V-1 No.331)
10 January 1969
Lavochkin
Soviet Union
Atmospheric
Successful
Entered atmosphere on 17 May 1969, operated for 51 minutes
Molniya-M
Venera 8
(4V-1 No.670)
27 March 1972
Lavochkin
Soviet Union
Lander
Successful
Landed at 09:32 UTC on 22 July 1972. First fully successful landing on another planet.
Molniya-M
Mariner 10
3 November 1973
NASA
United States
Flyby
Successful
Flyby on 4 February 1974; closest approach at 17:01 UTC; observed Venus and performed gravity assist to reach Mercury
Atlas SLV-3D Centaur-D1A
Venera 9
(4V-1 No.660)
8 June 1975
Lavochkin
Soviet Union
Orbiter/Lander
Successful
Entered orbit on 20 October 1975; lander landed at 05:13 UTC on 22 October. First images from the surface of another planet.
Proton-K/D
Venera 10
(4V-1 No.661)
14 June 1975
Lavochkin
Soviet Union
Orbiter/Lander
Successful
Entered orbit on 23 October 1975; lander landed at 05:17 UTC on 25 October
Proton-K/D
Venera 11
(4V-1 No.360)
9 September 1978
Lavochkin
Soviet Union
Flyby/Lander
Mostly successful
Flyby on 25 December; Lander landed at 03:24 UTC the same day. Multiple instrument failures on lander
Proton-K/D-1
Venera 12
(4V-1 No.361)
14 September 1978
Lavochkin
Soviet Union
Flyby/Lander
Mostly successful
Lander landed at 03:20 UTC on 21 December 1978. Both cameras on lander failed
Proton-K/D-1
Pioneer Venus 1
(PV Orbiter)
20 May 1978
NASA
United States
Orbiter
Successful
Entered orbit on 4 December 1978, decayed on 22 October 1992
Atlas SLV-3D Centaur-D1AR
Pioneer Venus 2
(PV Multiprobe)
8 August 1978
NASA
United States
Atmospheric
Successful
Entered the atmosphere on 9 December 1978; consisted of five spacecraft, one of which briefly continued transmitting after reaching the surface[9]
Atlas SLV-3D Centaur-D1AR
Venera 13
(4V-1M No.760)
30 October 1981
Lavochkin
Soviet Union
Flyby/Lander
Successful
Lander landed at 03:20 UTC on 1 March 1982.
Proton-K/D-1
Venera 14
(4V-1M No.761)
4 November 1981
Lavochkin
Soviet Union
Flyby/Lander
Successful
Lander landed on 5 March 1982.
Proton-K/D-1
Venera 16
(4V-2 No.861)
7 June 1983
Lavochkin
Soviet Union
Orbiter
Successful
Entered orbit 11 October 1983, operated until July 1984
Proton-K/D-1
Vega 1
(5VK No.901)
15 December 1984
Lavochkin
Soviet Union
Flyby/Atmospheric/Lander
Successful
Landed 11 June 1985. Atmospheric probe deployed during entry operated for two days. Main bus continued to explore comet 1P/Halley
Proton-K/D-1
Vega 2
(5VK No.902)
21 December 1984
Lavochkin
Soviet Union
Flyby/Atmospheric/Lander
Successful
Landed 15 June 1985. Atmospheric probe deployed during entry operated for two days. Main bus continued to explore comet 1P/Halley
Proton-K/D-1
Magellan
4 May 1989
NASA
United States
Orbiter
Successful
Entered orbit 10 October 1990, deorbited 13 October 1994
Space Shuttle Atlantis
STS-30 / IUS
Galileo
18 October 1989
NASA
United States
Gravity assist at Venus
Successful
Flyby on 10 February 1990 en route to Jupiter; observed Venus during closest pass.
Space Shuttle Atlantis
STS-34 / IUS
Cassini
15 October 1997
NASA
United States
Gravity assist
Successful
Flybys on 26 April 1998 and 24 June 1999 en route to Saturn; observed Venus during closest pass.
Titan IV(401)B
MESSENGER
3 August 2004
NASA
United States
Gravity assist
Successful
Flybys on 24 October 2006 and 5 June 2007 en route to Mercury; observed Venus during closest pass.
Delta II 7925H
Venus Express
9 November 2005
ESA
European Union
Orbiter
Successful
Entered orbit 11 April 2006. Full communications lost on 28 November 2014 [10]
Soyuz-FG/Fregat
Akatsuki
20 May 2010
JAXA
Japan
Orbiter
Operational
Flew past Venus on 6 December 2010 after failing to enter orbit. Insertion was successfully reattempted on 7 December 2015.
H-IIA 202
IKAROS
20 May 2010
JAXA
Japan
Flyby
Successful
Experimental solar sail released from the Akatsuki spacecraft. Flew past Venus on 8 December 2010 but did not make observations.
H-IIA 202
Parker
Solar
Probe
12 August 2018
NASA
United States
Gravity assist
Operational
Flybys on 10 October 2018, 26 December 2019, 11 July 2020, 20 February 2021, 16 October 2021, 21 August 2023, and 6 November 2024 to lower perihelion for solar observation.
Delta IV Heavy/Star 48BV
Bepi
Colombo
20 October 2018
ESA
European Union
Gravity assist
Successful
Flybys on 15 October 2020 and 11 August 2021 en route to Mercury; observed Venus during closest pass.
Ariane 5 ECA
Vega Balloon
A key past mission is the Vega balloon.
The two Vega Balloons are the key past missions" Then Each balloon aerobot was designed to float at 54 km (34 mi) from the surface, in the most active layer of the Venusian cloud system. The instrument pack had enough battery power for sixty hours of operation and measured temperature, pressure, wind speed, and aerosol density. The balloon envelopes were surfaced with polytetrafluoroethylene to resist attack by the corrosive atmosphere. Both Vega-1 and Vega-2 balloons operated for more than 46 hrs from injection to the final transmission.
The balloons were spherical superpressure types with a diameter of 3.54 m (11.6 ft) and filled with helium. A gondola assembly weighing 6.9 kg (15 lb) and 1.3 m (4 ft 3 in) long was connected to the balloon envelope by a tether 13 m (43 ft) long. Total mass of the entire assembly was 21 kg (46 lb).
The Morning Star Habitability mission is inspired by the Russian “Vega” balloon mission to the atmosphere of Venus. The image is of a model on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the Smithsonian Institution. Photo by Geoffrey A. Landis, 2011.
