What was the name of the first spacecraft to soft-land on Venus?

Venera 7 was the first spacecraft to soft-land on Venus and transmit data from the planet’s surface, in 1970.

The Soviet spacecraft launched on August 17, 1970, and reached Venus several months later. Its descent module was designed to survive an environment with crushing pressure and temperatures near 500 degrees Celsius. Venera 7 transmitted for about 23 minutes after landing on December 15, 1970.

The mission established the first direct measurements from Venus’s surface. Its data confirmed the planet’s extraordinarily hot conditions and provided an important test of spacecraft engineering for extreme environments.

Venera 9 is sometimes confused with Venera 7 because it later returned the first images from the surface of Venus. Venera 7 achieved the earlier milestone of a successful soft landing and surface transmission, while Venera 9 expanded the scientific results with photography.