Mission Archive

USSR · 1984

Venus, Halley's Comet

A Soviet-led international mission that dropped a lander and a balloon at Venus, then flew on to pass within 9,000 km of Halley's Comet.

USSR · 1975

Venus

A Soviet mission whose lander returned the first images from the surface of another planet, while its carrier became the first spacecraft to orbit Venus.

USSR · 1971

Mars

A Soviet orbiter and lander. The lander made the first soft landing on Mars but fell silent about 20 seconds after it began transmitting; the orbiter returned data for eight months.

USSR · 1970

Moon

A Soviet mission that landed Lunokhod 1, the first remote-controlled rover on another world, in Mare Imbrium.

USSR · 1970

Moon

The first robotic mission to bring samples back from another world, returning 101 grams of lunar soil from Mare Fecunditatis.

USSR · 1970

Venus

A Soviet probe that became the first spacecraft to land on another planet and transmit data from its surface. It returned 23 minutes of signal from the surface of Venus.

USSR · 1966

Moon

The first spacecraft to make a soft landing on the Moon and the first to send back pictures from its surface.

USSR · 1959

Moon

The first spacecraft to photograph the far side of the Moon, returning images that covered about 70% of it.

USSR · 1959

Moon

The first spacecraft to reach the surface of another world, striking the Moon after a flight of about a day and a half.