Editing Venera (section)

===Venera 1 and 2===
{{Main|Venera 1|Venera 2}}

[[File:Venera 1 (a) (Memorial Museum of Astronautics).JPG|thumb|upright|Full-scale model of the [[Venera 1]] in the [[Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics]]]]

The first Soviet attempt at a flyby probe to Venus was launched on 4 February 1961, but failed to leave Earth orbit. In keeping with the Soviet policy at that time of not announcing details of failed missions, the launch was announced under the name [[Tyazhely Sputnik]] ("Heavy Satellite").  It is also known as Venera 1VA.<ref name="EA-1VA">{{cite web|url=http://www.astronautix.com/v/venera1va.html|title=Venera 1VA|last=Wade|first=Mark|publisher=Encyclopedia Astronautica|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100909085012/http://www.astronautix.com/craft/venra1va.htm|archive-date=9 September 2010}}</ref>

As with some of the Soviet Union's other planetary probes, the later versions were launched in pairs, with a second vehicle launched soon after the first.

[[Venera 1]] and [[Venera 2]] were intended to fly past Venus without entering orbit. Venera 1 was launched on 12 February 1961. Telemetry on the probe failed seven days after launch. It is believed to have passed within {{convert|100000|km|mi|abbr=on}} of Venus and remains in heliocentric orbit. Venera 2 launched on 12 November 1965, but also suffered a telemetry failure after leaving Earth orbit.

Several other failed attempts at Venus flyby probes were launched by the Soviet Union in the early 1960s,<ref name="Chronology">NSSDC [http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/chronology_venus.html Chronology of Venus Exploration], Dave Williams, 28 October 2021, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; see also NSSDC [http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/tent_launch.html Tentatively Identified (Soviet) Missions and Launch Failures], Dave Williams, 22 February 2022, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ultimax.com/resource/venumore.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708123346/https://ssl.catalog.com/~ultimax.com/resource/venus.html|archive-date=8 July 2011|publisher=Ultimax Group|title= Venus Exploration Atlas|date=1 April 2003}}</ref> but were not announced as planetary missions at the time, and hence did not officially receive the "Venera" designation.