Venera 9, launched June 8, 1975, touched down on Venus October 22, 1968 transmitted the first images ever sent from the surface of another planet. Two days prior, the descent craft separated from the orbited and made a soft landing. It transmitted for 53 minutes before falling silent. Venera 9 measured a surface pressure 90 times that of Earth and a brisk atmosphere of 485° C.
Venera 9
Apollo 7 Crew: Major Don Eisele, Capt. Schirra, Walt Cunningham
Apollo 7 returned to Earth in the Atlantic Ocean southeast of Bermuda on October 22, 1968. Crew members Capt. Walter (Wally) Schirra, Major Don Eisele and Walt Cunningham spent eleven days in orbit. They inadvertently conducted an unscheduled biological experiment of seeing how a head cold manifests itself in zero-g. Without the pull of gravity, the crew found it difficult to clear the nose, ears and sinuses. The cold persisted throughout the mission despite medication. When they returned to Earth, they did not wear gloves or helmets because then it would have been impossible to clear the throat and ears when gravity would start pulling mucous from the head area.
Apollo 7 splashdown
Luna 12
In the ever-escalating Space Race during the Cold War, the USSR launched Luna 12 October 22, 1966. It reached the moon in 3 days and took high-resolution images of the surface, a task Luna 11 failed to do. The USSR released photos of the Sea of Rains and the Aristarchus crater but no further images were ever released.
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