Asri-unix.868 net.space utcsrgv!utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!ARPAVAX:C70:sri-unix!TAW@S1-A Mon Mar 1 12:27:32 1982 Russian probe on Sol II a074 0625 01 Mar 82 PM-Soviets-Space,350 Soviet Space Probe Reaches Venus MOSCOW (AP) - A Soviet space probe made a soft landing on the planet Venus today and was sending back photographs and information from soil samples, the official news agency Tass reported. The Soviets and the United States have previously landed unmanned space probes on Venus, the nearest planet to Earth. Tass said a second module is due to land on Venus Friday. Tass said a module descended from the unmanned Venus 13 spacecraft early this morning after a four-month flight. ''The results of the new cosmic experiment will significantly widen the information about the planet nearest to the Earth,'' Tass said. The news agency said the probe had already sent back photographs and scooped up a soil sample. The descent vehicle transmitted information from the surface of the planet for 127 minutes today, according to Tass. Venus 13 was launched Oct. 30, 1981. Tass said Venus 14, launched on Nov. 4, will reach the planet on Friday. Both craft were launched from a satellite in earth orbit, Tass said. The Soviet Union started its Venus research program in 1961. A year later, the U.S. space probe Mariner 2 passed by the planet. In 1967, a U.S. probe under the Mariner program and a Soviet probe reached the planet within a few hours of each other. The Soviet probe transmitted information for about 75 minutes, stopping after temperatures above 500 degrees Fahrenheit were recorded at what was later determined to be about 20 miles from the planet's surface. The U.S. probe, Mariner 5, passed about 6,000 miles from the planet's surface. The U.S. launched two Pioneer spacecraft in December 1978, one which went into orbit of the planet and the other which split into five separate landing space probes. Tass said its current Venus probes will test the ground surface of Venus in an effort to determine what elements are present on the hot, cloud-covered planet. The mother ship, Venus 13, passed at a distance of about 22,320 miles, Tass said. The news agency said joint Soviet-French experiments were carried out during the flight to Venus. ap-ny-03-01 0925EST *************** ----------------------------------------------------------------- gopher://quux.org/ conversion by John Goerzen of http://communication.ucsd.edu/A-News/ This Usenet Oldnews Archive article may be copied and distributed freely, provided: 1. There is no money collected for the text(s) of the articles. 2. The following notice remains appended to each copy: The Usenet Oldnews Archive: Compilation Copyright (C) 1981, 1996 Bruce Jones, Henry Spencer, David Wiseman.