Venera 7

Venera 7
Reproduction of the Venera 7 lander at the Sergei Pavlovich Korolyov Museum of Cosmonautics
Mission typeVenus lander
OperatorLavochkin
COSPAR ID1970-060A
SATCAT no.4489
Mission durationCruise: 3 months and 28 days
Lander: 23 minutes
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft3MV No. 630
ManufacturerLavochkin
Launch mass1,180 kg (2,600 lb)
Landing mass500 kg (1,100 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date17 August 1970, 05:38:22 (1970-08-17UTC05:38:22Z) UTC
RocketMolniya-M
Launch siteBaikonur 31/6
End of mission
Last contact15 December 1970, 06:00 (1970-12-15UTC07Z) UTC
Orbital parameters
Reference systemHeliocentric
Perihelion altitude0.69 AU (103 million km)
Aphelion altitude1.01 AU (151 million km)
Inclination2.0°
Period287 days
Venus lander
Landing date15 December 1970, 05:37:10 UTC
Landing site5°S 351°E / 5°S 351°E / -5; 351

Seal of Venera 7

Venera 7 (Russian: Венера-7, lit.'Venus 7') was a Soviet spacecraft, part of the Venera series of probes to Venus. When it landed on the Venusian surface on 15 December 1970, it became the first spacecraft to execute a successful soft landing on another planet and the first to transmit data from there back to Earth.