Venera 4 was the first spacecraft to measure the atmosphere of another planet.

The following Venera missions became more and more successful, as the Soviets learned from their earlier attempts.

And the Venera 13 lander was the first spacecraft to return sounds from the surface of another world.

The family of Venera Minakhmetova, the fourth victim to die in nine days, says her death must lead to changes.

The Soviet Union originally designed the vehicle to explore Mars, but repurposed three of them as Venera probes to visit Venus.