Vega 2, launched December 21, 1984 by the Soviet Union, visited Venus and Halley's Comet. The descent module was released from the flyby probe on June 13, 1985 and reached Venus two days later. It consisted of a surface lander and a balloon explorer.
The lander touched down in the northern region of Aphrodite Terra. Pressure was 91 atm and the temperature was 865° F or 463° C. The lander transmitted data for 56 minutes. The balloon explorer floated at a stable altitude of 53-54 km where the pressure was about 0.5 atm and the temperature of 95° - 109° F or 35° - 43° C. It transmitted for almost two days, during which it travelled 11,100 km or 6900 mi. until the final transmission.
The Vegas' motherships were redirected to intercept Halley's Comet and reached its destination on March 9, 1986. The encounter lasted about 3 hours at its closest approach at 8030 km or 4990 mi. Contact with Vega 2 was lost on March 24, 1987 after it measured dust as it passed through orbits of Comet 72P/Denning-Fujikawa, Biela's Comet and Comet 289/Blanpain.
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