Launch of Venera 9

Venera 9 was a Soviet space mission that consisted of an orbiter and a lander, sent to Venus. The orbiter became the first spacecraft to go into orbit around Venus, where it studied the clouds and atmosphere. The lander descended through the dense, hot atmosphere and survived on the surface of the planet for about an hour, long enough to send back the first photograph ever taken from the surface of another planet. The black-and-white image showed a rocky landscape with flat, angular stones. The lander also measured the pressure, the temperature and the composition of the rocks. A twin spacecraft, Venera 10, followed a few days later.

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