OTD In Space – March 5: Soviet Space Probe Lands On Venus

On March 5, 1982, the Soviet Union's Venera 14 spacecraft landed on Venus!

Venera 14 launched just five days after its identical twin, Venera 13. Both space probes spent four months traveling to Venus, and Venera 13 arrived a few days earlier. Venera 14 parachuted down to the surface of Venus and collected data on the atmosphere the whole way down. It landed about 600 miles away from Venera 13 and started beaming back images from the surface of Venus — but not for long. The high pressure and temperature at Venus killed Venera 14 in under an hour.