1975Soviet Probe Venera 9 Lands on Venus

The Soviet probe Venera 9 lands on the surface of Venus and ...
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1989

🚀 John Glenn Orbits Earth, Mariner 2 Flies by Venus

John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit Earth. Mariner 2 becomes the first probe to reach another planet, flying past Venus in December. NASA follows this with the successful Mariner 4 mission to Mars in 1965, both the US and the USSR send many more probes to planets through the rest of the 1960s and 1970s.
John Glenn Orbits Earth, Mariner 2 Flies by Venus (1962)
Space ExplorationNASASpace RacePlanetary ScienceVenusMarsCold WarAstronautsRockets
United StatesUnited States

🚀 Soviet Luna 9 Soft Landing on the Moon

Soviet Luna 9 probe makes the first successful soft landing on the Moon in January, while the US lands the far more complex Surveyor missions, which follows up to NASA's Ranger series of crash-landers, scout sites for possible crewed landings.
Soviet Luna 9 Soft Landing on the Moon (1966)
Space ExplorationMoon LandingLuna ProgramSpace RaceSoviet Union1960sSoft LandingLunar Missions
Soviet UnionSoviet Union

🚀 Soviet Probe Venera 9 Lands on Venus

The Soviet probe Venera 9 lands on the surface of Venus and sends back the first picture of its surface. The first probe to land on another planet, Venera 7 in 1970, had no camera. Both break down within an hour in the hostile atmosphere.
Soviet Probe Venera 9 Lands on Venus (1975)
Space ExplorationVenusVenera ProgramPlanetary ScienceSoviet UnionSpace Probe1970s
Soviet UnionSoviet Union

🚀 Viking 1 and 2 Space Probes Arrive at Mars

NASA's Viking 1 and Viking 2 space probes arrive at Mars. Each Viking mission consists of an orbiter, which photographs the planet from above, and a lander, which touches down on the surface, analyzes the rocks, and searches unsuccessfully for life.
Space ExplorationMarsPlanetary ScienceNASAViking ProgramSpace Probes1970sAstrobiology
United StatesUnited States

🪐 Voyager 2 Space Probe Launched

Voyager 2 Space Probe Launched (1977)
Space ExplorationNASAVoyager ProgramPlanetary ScienceOuter Solar System1970sSpace ProbesJovian SystemSaturnian System
United StatesUnited States

🛰️ Magellan Probe Maps Venus

The Magellan probe, launched by NASA, arrives at Venus and spends three years mapping the planet with radar. Magellan is the first in a new wave of probes that include Galileo, which arrives at Jupiter in 1995, and Cassini which arrives at Saturn in 2004.
Magellan Probe Maps Venus (1989)
Space ExplorationVenusPlanetary ScienceRadar MappingMagellanNASA1980sAstronomyGeologyRemote Sensing
United StatesUnited States