Venera Lens Cap Problems

Venera 9, Venera 10, Venera 11, Venera 12, and Venera 14 all struggled with issues pertaining to some or all of the lens caps covering the onboard cameras not releasing properly.

• The Venera 9 lander operated for at least 53 minutes and took pictures with one of two cameras; the other lens cap did not release.

• The Venera 10 lander operated for at least 65 minutes and took pictures with one of two cameras; the other lens cap did not release.

• The Venera 11 lander operated for at least 95 minutes but neither cameras' lens caps released.

• The Venera 12 lander operated for at least 110 minutes but neither cameras' lens caps released.

The Venera 14 craft had the misfortune of ejecting the camera lens cap directly under the surface compressibility tester arm, and returned information for the compressibility of the lens cap rather than the surface of Venus.

One of the ejected lens caps laying on the surface of Venus