Editing Space Race (section)

=== Venus and Mars robotic landings ===

==== Venus landings ====
In 1970, the Soviet Union's [[Venera#Venera 7|Venera 7]] marked the first time a spacecraft was able to return data after landing on another planet.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Venera 7 |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1970-060A |website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov}}</ref> Venera 7 held a resistant [[thermometer]] and an aneroid [[barometer]] to measure the temperature and atmospheric pressure on the surface, the transmitted data showed 475 C at the surface, and a pressure of 92 bar.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Venera 7, The First Craft to Make Controlled Landing on Another Planet And Send Data From its Surface |url=https://www.amusingplanet.com/2021/12/venera-7-first-craft-to-make-controlled.html |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=www.amusingplanet.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Venera 7 |url=http://weebau.com/satplan/venera%207.htm |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=weebau.com}}</ref><ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Plumbing the Atmosphere of Venus |url=http://mentallandscape.com/V_Lavochkin1.htm |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=mentallandscape.com}}</ref>

In 1975, [[Venera 9]] established an orbit around Venus and successfully returned the first photography of the surface of Venus.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Venera 9 |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1975-050A |website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Venera 9 descent craft |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1975-050D |website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov}}</ref> [[Venera 10]] landed on Venus and followed with further photography shortly after.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Venus - Venera 10 Lander |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/imgcat/html/object_page/v10_lander_proc.html |website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov}}</ref>

NASA initiated the [[Pioneer Venus project]] in 1978, successfully deploying four small probes into the Venusian atmosphere on December 9, 1978. The probes confirmed that Venus has little if any magnetic field, and cameras detected lightning in the atmosphere. The last transmissions were received on October 8, 1992, as its decaying orbit no longer permitted communications. The spacecraft burned up the atmosphere soon after, ending a successful 14-year mission that was planned to last only eight months.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pioneer Venus 1 - NASA Science |url=https://science.nasa.gov/mission/pioneer-venus-1/ |access-date=2024-12-08 |website=science.nasa.gov |date=December 21, 2017 |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 1981, [[Venera 13]] performed a successful soft-landing on Venus and marked the first probe to drill into the surface of another planet and take a sample.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=Venera 13 |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1981-106D |website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Surface of Venus |url=https://pages.uoregon.edu/jschombe/ast121/lectures/surface_venus.html |access-date=2024-11-19 |website=pages.uoregon.edu}}</ref> Venera 13 also took an audio sample of the Venusian environment, marking another first.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Drilling into the Surface of Venus |url=http://mentallandscape.com/V_Venera11.htm |access-date=2024-11-19 |website=mentallandscape.com}}</ref> Venera 13 returned the first color images of the surface of Venus, revealing an orange-brown flat bedrock surface covered with loose [[regolith]] and small flat thin angular rocks.<ref name=":4" /> [[Venera 14]], an identical spacecraft to Venera 13, was launched 5 days apart with a similar mission profile.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Venera 14 |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1981-110A |website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov}}</ref>

In total ten Venera probes achieved a soft landing on the surface of Venus.

In 1984, the Soviet [[Vega program]]me began and ended with the launch of two crafts launched six days apart, [[Vega 1]] and [[Vega 2]]. Both crafts deployed a balloon in addition to a lander, marking a first in spaceflight.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Vega 1 |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1984-125A |website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Vega 2 |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1984-128A |website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=In Depth {{!}} Vega 2 |url=https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/vega-2/in-depth/ |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=NASA Solar System Exploration}}</ref>

The US never caught up or matched the Soviet efforts to explore the surface of Venus, but did claim the title of the first successful probe to have flown by the planet and had notable success with the Pioneer atmospheric probes.

==== Mars landings ====
[[File:PIA00572-MarsRock-BigJoe-19970228.jpg|thumb|Surface of Mars taken by Viking 1.<ref>{{Cite web |title=28. "Big Joe" Boulder |url=https://www.lpi.usra.edu/publications/slidesets/winds/slide_28.html |access-date=2024-12-08 |website=www.lpi.usra.edu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Catalog Page for PIA00572 |url=https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00572 |access-date=2024-12-08 |website=photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov}}</ref>]]In 1971, the Soviet's [[Mars 2]] successfully established Mars orbit and attempted a soft landing but crashed, becoming the first man-made object to impact Mars. This was shortly followed by [[Mars 3]], a 358&nbsp;kg lander, which successfully landed but the lander only transmitted data for 14.5 seconds before losing contact.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mars 3 Lander |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1971-049F |website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov}}</ref>

In 1976, NASA followed suit, and put two successful landers on Mars. These were [[Viking 1]] and [[Viking 2]]. These landers were significantly larger than the Soviet Mars landers (Viking 1 was 3,527 kilograms). They were able to take the first photographs from the surface of Mars.<ref>{{Cite web |title=viking-1 |url=https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/viking-1/ |website=jpl.nasa.gov}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite web |title=Viking 1 - NASA Science |url=https://science.nasa.gov/mission/viking-1/ |access-date=2024-12-07 |website=science.nasa.gov |date=December 6, 2017 |language=en-US}}</ref>

Viking 1 operated on the surface of Mars for around six years (On November 11, 1982, the Lander stopped operating after getting a faulty command) and Viking 2 for over three years (mission ended in early 1980). Both landers were equipped with a robotic sampler arm which successfully scooped up soil samples and tested them with instruments such as a [[Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry|Gas chromatography–mass spectrometer]]. The landers measured temperatures ranging from negative 86 degrees Celsius before dawn to negative 33 degrees Celsius in the afternoon. Both landers had issues obtaining accurate results from their [[seismometer]]s.<ref name=":5" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Viking 1 - Mars Missions - NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory |url=https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/viking-1/ |access-date=2024-12-08 |website=NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=viking-2 |url=https://science.nasa.gov/mission/viking-2/ |website=science.nasa.gov|date=December 6, 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Viking 2 - Mars Missions - NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory |url=https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/viking-2/ |access-date=2024-12-08 |website=NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) |language=en-US}}</ref>

Photographs from the landers and orbiters surpassed expectations in quality and quantity. The total exceeded 4,500 from the landers and 52,000 from the orbiters.

The Viking landers recorded atmospheric pressures ranging from below 7 millibars (0.0068 bars) to over 10 millibars (0.0108 bars) over the Martian year, leading to the conclusion that atmospheric pressure varies by 30 percent during the Martian year because carbon dioxide condenses and sublimes at the polar caps. Martian winds generally blow more slowly than expected, scientists had expected them to reach speeds of several hundred miles an hour from observing global dust storms, but neither lander recorded gusts over 120 kilometers (74 miles) an hour, and average velocities were considerably lower. Nevertheless, the orbiters observed more than a dozen small dust storms. The Viking landers detected [[nitrogen]] in the atmosphere for the first time, and that it was a significant component of the Martian atmosphere. There was speculation from the atmospheric analysis that the atmosphere of Mars used to be much denser.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Viking Mission to Mars |url=https://mars.nasa.gov/internal_resources/828/ |website=mars.nasa.gov}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Winds of Mars: Aeolian Activity and Landforms |url=https://www.lpi.usra.edu/publications/slidesets/winds/index.shtml |access-date=2024-12-08 |website=www.lpi.usra.edu}}</ref>

The Soviets did not match the Martian lander achievements of NASA, but did claim the title of the first lander.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hill |first=Mark |date=2021-12-02 |title=50 years ago, a forgotten mission landed on Mars |url=https://www.astronomy.com/space-exploration/50-years-ago-a-forgotten-mission-landed-on-mars/ |access-date=2025-02-12 |website=Astronomy Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref>