Venera 7 was the first spacecraft to successfully land on Venus. The Soviet probe reached the surface on 15 December 1970, becoming the first spacecraft to make a successful soft landing on another planet and transmit data from its surface.
The achievement was especially difficult because Venus has crushing atmospheric pressure, temperatures near 475 °C, and corrosive clouds. Venera 7's parachute failed during descent, and the lander struck the ground at high speed. It initially appeared to fall silent, but recordings later revealed that it had continued sending weak signals for about 23 minutes from the surface.
Earlier Venera probes had entered the Venusian atmosphere but failed before completing a successful landing. Venera 4, one of the wrong options, was important because it returned the first direct measurements from another planet's atmosphere, but it did not land successfully. Venera 9 later became the first mission to return photographs from Venus's surface.