Venera 7 made the first successful soft landing on Venus in 1970.
The Soviet spacecraft reached Venus on 15 December 1970 and transmitted data from the planet's surface for about 23 minutes. It was the first probe to send information from the surface of another planet, rather than merely passing by or entering its atmosphere. Venera 7 used a heavily reinforced landing capsule to survive Venus's extreme environment.
The probe encountered a surface pressure of about 90 times Earth's sea-level pressure and a temperature near 475 degrees Celsius. Its parachute system did not work as planned, and the lander appears to have toppled onto its side, but its transmitter continued operating long enough to return measurements.
Venera 7 is sometimes confused with Venera 9, which achieved the first successful transmission of images from Venus's surface in 1975. Earlier Venera missions had reached Venus's atmosphere or surface but did not return usable surface data after landing.