Portal:Astronomy/Picture/Week 18 2006

From Earth, the surface of Venus is permanently hidden from view by a dense and global covering of sulphuric acid clouds. The only direct images of the surface were returned by the Soviet Venera program in the 1970s and 1980s. Several probes landed on the planet, but none survived for more than two hours before being destroyed by the fearsome temperatures and atmospheric pressure at the surface. This image was taken by the Venera 13 probe in 1982.