Venus Spacecraft Encounters

VENERA 15 and 16 - 1983: Venera 15 and 16 are Soviet spacecraft that were designed to map one fourth of the planet's surface using radar imaging.
GALILEO 1989-present: The Galileo spacecraft was designed to study Jupiter's atmosphere, satellites and surrounding magnetosphere. It began its probe in December 1995. Because it requires a Venus-Earth-Earth gravity assist, the spacecraft was able to make useful scientific observations of these planets and the Earth's moon and exercise its scientific capabilities on its long journey to Jupiter. Galileo also flew close to the asteroid belt providing close-up observations of asteroids Gaspra and Ida. More about Galileo.
MAGELLAN - 1990-1994: Magellan was the first planetary mission to be launched from the Space Shuttle. Its primary objective was to map the surface of Venus using radar. The spacecraft returned high resolution data for 98% of the Venusian surface and gravity data for 95% of the planet. Magellan ended its mission on October 11, 1994 when controllers deliberately sent the spacecraft into the upper atmosphere of Venus for a final experiment.

vp 10/20/98