BACKGROUND
3. Surface View from Venera 13

This is a panoramic surface image by Venera 13, a Soviet mission that landed at 7.5°S, 303.5°E on March 1, 1982. The effect of sunlight filtering through the dense atmosphere appears to give the surface an orange tint. However, the accuracy of the colors in the panorama depends in part on calibration with the color bar shown in the image, and the high atmospheric temperature and sulfuric acid in the atmosphere may have significantly altered the color bar in unexpected ways. The wide-angle lens used causes the distortion apparent on the edges of the panorama. The saw-toothed object at the bottom of each image is the foot of the lander, and the circular object just above is part of the protective covering for the camera system. Chemical analyses performed by the Venera landers indicate that most venusian rocks, including those shown here, are basaltic and therefore black or gray. Note that there does not appear to be much soil on the surface.

Images courtesy of James Head (Brown University), in collaboration with USSR (now Russian) Academy of Sciences.

Click here to view a high-resolution version of the image (1.20 MB)