On this day, in 1978, NASA's Pioneer Venus Multiprobe, also known Pioneer Venus 2 or Pioneer 13, entered the atmosphere of Venus. The spacecraft carried one large and three small atmospheric probes, designed to collect data as they descended across the thick Venusian atmosphere towards the surface. After they separated, each entered the atmosphere at different locations and registered data such as temperature, pressure, winds and turbulence. Two of the probes survived the hard impact on the surface and one was still able to send data for over one hour.