Venera 3: mission and targets
Data as of 2026-10-04
Dates declared by the archive
- Project start
- November 16, 1965
- Declared end
- March 1, 1966
The start the archive declares is the start of the project, not the launch, and an end it does not declare does not mean the mission is still running.
In Galaxy
Targets you can open in 3D:
A declared target is what the archive files the mission’s data under, not a record of observation.
Description published by the archive
Venera 3 mission intended to explore Venus and land on the surface. The Soviet Venera 3 mission comprised a carrier bus and an attached descent craft (lander probe). The lander probe impacted Venus on 1 March 1966, making Venera 3 the first spacecraft to reach the surface of another planet. However, the communications systems had failed on 16 February, before planetary data could be returned.
Quoted in English, as the archive publishes it, read on October 4, 2026.
Other targets declared
- SOLAR WIND (plasma stream)
Source
Identifier in the archive, which is its citation: urn:nasa:pds:context:investigation:mission.venera_3
NASA Planetary Data System, PDS Registry, investigation context products. Dates and targets read on September 29, 2026; how to cite the archive: https://pds.nasa.gov/datastandards/citing/