Venera 4: Launched June 12, 1967. The Venera 4 entry capsule entered Venus' atmosphere October 18, 1967, one day before the Mariner 5 flyby. The capsule transmitted data during a 94 minute parachute descent before it was crushed by the atmospheric pressure 27 km above the surface. Venera 5: Launched January 5, 1969. Venera 5 was also an atmosphere probe; it entered on Venus' night side on March 16, 1969. It transmitted data for 53 minutes before also being crushed by the pressure. Venera 6: Launched January 10, 1969. The Venera 6 atmosphere capsule entered the dark side of Venus only 24 hours after the Venera 5 capsule. It descended to only 10 to 12 km above the surface before being crushed. Venera 7: Launched August 17, 1970. The Venera 7 and 8 entry capsules were redesigned to withstand the conditions found by the earlier missions. The Venera 7 probe entered the atmosphere on December 15, 1970, but was able to relay only termperature data due to an error. It became the first craft to survive on the surface of Venus, where it found a surface temperature of approximately 475 C. Venera 8: Launched March 27, 1972. On July 22, 1972 Venera 8 also landed on the surface of Venus. It transmitted from the planet for 50 minutes.
