The Soviet Venera 9 and 10 spacecraft were launched on 8 and 14 June 1975, respectively, to do the unprecedented: place landers on the surface of Venus and return images. The Venera 9 Lander (top) touched down on the surface of Venus on October 22, 1975 at 5:13 UT, about 32° S, 291° E with the sun near zenith. It operated for 53 minutes, allowing return of a single image. Venera 9 landed on a slope inclined by about 30 degrees to the horizontal. The white object at the bottom of the image is part of the lander. The distortion is caused by the Venera imaging system. Angular and partly weathered rocks, about 30 to 40 cm across, dominate the landscape, many partly buried in soil. The horizon is visible in the upper left and right corners.
The Venera 10 Lander (bottom) touched down on the surface of Venus on October 25, 1975 at 5:17 UT, about 16° N, 291° E. The Lander was inclined about 8 degrees. It returned this image during the 65 minutes of operation on the surface. The sun was near zenith during this time, and the lighting was similar to that on Earth on an overcast summer day. The objects at the bottom of the image are parts of the spacecraft. The image shows flat slabs of rock, partly covered by fine-grained material, not unlike a volcanic area on Earth. The large slab in the foreground extends over 2 meters across.