Venera 4 launched
JUN 12, 2015
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.030985
On this day in 1967 the Soviet Union launched Venera 4. Four months later, the spacecraft entered orbit around Venus to become the first successful probe to enter and analyze the environment of another planet. Among the probe’s findings: Venus’s magnetic field is 1/1000 that of Earth’s and its atmosphere contains no oxygen or water vapor.
Date in History: 12 June 1967
© 2015. American Institute of Physics