Report from a Torrid Planet

The instrumentation, landing site, and results of a core sample examination made by the Venera 14 Venus lander probe are reported. The aerodynamically-landed vehicle carried a mass spectrometer, gas chromatograph, a nephelometer, a spectrophotometer, an aerosol analyzer, and a lightning discharge detector, all of which operated during atmospheric descent. Touchdown was 900 km SE and 1/2 km lower in elevation than the Venera 13 spacecraft landing site. A sample from 30 mm beneath the surface was taken into the spacecraft and exposed to radiation from Pu-238 and Fe-55 sources to detect fluorescent emissions characteristic to Ca, Mg, and Fe. The data were concluded to indicate that the samples were basalts, similar to those found on terrestrial ocean bottoms.