 venera 8 ( meaning venus 8) (manufacturer's designation: 3v (v-72)) was a probe in the soviet venera program for the exploration of venus. venera 8 was a venus atmospheric probe and lander. its instrumentation included temperature, pressure, and light sensors as well as an altimeter, gamma ray spectrometer, gas analyzer, and radio transmitters. the spacecraft took 117 days to reach venus with one mid-course correction on 6 april 1972, separating from the bus (which contained a cosmic ray detector, solar wind detector, and ultraviolet spectrometer) and entering the atmosphere on 22 july 1972 at 08:37 ut. a refrigeration system attached to the bus was used to pre-chill the descent capsule's interior prior to atmospheric entry in order to prolong its life on the surface. descent speed was reduced from 41,696&nbsp;km/h to about 900&nbsp;km/h by aerobraking. the 2.5 meter diameter parachute opened at an altitude of 60&nbsp;km. thumb|left|venera 8 landing capsulevenera 8 transmitted data during the descent. a sharp decrease in illumination was noted at 35 to 30&nbsp;km altitude and wind speeds of less than 1&nbsp;km/s were measured below 10&nbsp;km. venera 8 landed at 09:32 ut in what is now called vasilisa region, within 150&nbsp;km radius of , in sunlight, about 500&nbsp;km from the morning terminator. the lander mass was 495&nbsp;kg. it continued to send back data for 50 minutes, 11 seconds after landing before failing due to the harsh surface conditions. the probe confirmed the earlier data on the high venus surface temperature and pressure (470 degrees celsius, 90 atmospheres) returned by venera 7, and also measured the light level as being suitable for surface photography, finding it to be similar to the amount of light on earth on an overcast day with roughly 1&nbsp;k
1972_in_the_Soviet_Union Derelict_landers_(spacecraft) Lavinia_Planitia_quadrangle Missions_to_Venus Spacecraft_launched_in_1972 Venera_program