Venera was a series of satellites launched by the Soviet Union in the 1970s and 1980s to study Venus’ environment. It was also the program aimed at returning the first images of the surface of another planet. Over the course of the program, thirteen probes successfully reached Venus and transmitted data about planetary neighbour, eight landed successfully on the surface, and four returned pretty outstanding images.

image by Venera 13

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The view from Venera 13's left camera

Venera 14 photo of the Venusian surface.