June 8, 2022
On this date in 1975, the Soviet spacecraft Venera 9 launched. Venera 9 consisted of both an orbiter and lander, which were the first to orbit Venus and the first to send back images from the surface of another planet respectively. The images sent back from the surface of Venus were meant to be a 360° panorama; however, one of the lens caps did not release, so only a 180° image was captured.
To read more about Venera 9 and its science objectives, visit: https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/venera-9/in-depth/
This is the single image Venera 9 transmitted back to Earth during its 53 minutes of operation on the Venusian surface. Flat, angular rocks make up most of the image, but the horizon is visible in the upper left and right corners. Image credit: Russian Space Agency/public domain.