Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Venera 13: First Color Pictures From Venus


A panoramic view of the surface of Venus from the Venera 13 lander.
CREDIT: NASA

Venera 13, a Soviet spacecraft, was the first lander to transmit color images from the surface of Venus. Although other landers arrived before and after it, pictures from Venera 13 tend to be more widely circulated because they are in color.

The spacecraft was designed to last about half an hour on Venus' harsh surface, but sent back data for more than two hours after its landing March 1, 1982.

Since no lander has ventured on to Venus since the 1980s, the Venera program's images of the surface stand as the best close-up record of the planet today.

Source: Space.com

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