Earlier space probes to Venus
The first space vehicle visiting Venus was Mariner 2 in 1962. After this Venus has been visited by a number of vehicles, more than 20 all together, among others Venera 7 which was the first vehicle to land on another planet. |
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| Mariner probes to Venus |
| The USA launched the space probe Mariner 2 towards Venus 27th August 1962. The launching took place from Cape Canaveral in Florida by an Atlas-Agena launch vehicle. When Mariner 2 passed Venus 14th December 1962, the space vehicle was the first one to carry out close observations of a body in the solar system beyond the moon. |
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| The Soviet Venera programme |
| The Soviet Union took early the leadership in the exploration by space probes. Venera 7 became the first vehicle to land on Venus in 1971. Venera 9 became the first one to send images from the surface of the planet in 1975. This was only two among several space probes of the Venera type that Soviet launched. |
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| Magellan on its way towards Venus |
| The American space probe Magellan was launched by the space shuttle Atlantis 4th October 1989. The space probe is named after the Portuguese seafarer who was the first to carry out a sailing around the world at the beginning of the 1500 hundreds. |
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