1959 14:28 UT Venus occults the star Regulus. This rare event is used to determine the diameter of Venus and the structure of the Venusian atmosphere.
1961 U.S.S.R. launches Venera 1 towards Venus.
1961 Venera program: ''Venera 1'' becomes the first man-made object to fly-by another planet by passing Venus (the probe had lost contact with Earth a month earlier and did not send back any data).
1962 The Mariner 2 unmanned space mission is launched to Venus by NASA.
1962 NASA's ''Mariner 2'' becomes the first spacecraft to fly by Venus.
1965 Venera program: The Soviet Union launches the Venera 3 space probe toward Venus, the first spacecraft to reach the surface of another planet.
1966 Venera 3 Soviet space probe crashes on Venus becoming the first spacecraft to land on another planet's surface.
1967 Mariner program: ''Mariner 5'' is launched toward Venus.
1967 The Soviet probe Venera 4 reaches Venus and becomes the first spacecraft to measure the atmosphere of another planet.
1969 Venera program: Venera 5, a Soviet spaceprobe, lands on Venus.
1969 Venera program: Soviet ''Venera 6'' begins its descent into the atmosphere of Venus, sending back atmospheric data before being crushed by pressure.
1970 Venera Program: Venera 7 launched. It will later become the first spacecraft to successfully transmit data from the surface of another planet (Venus).
1982 The Soviet probe Venera 14 arrives at the planet Venus.
1990 The Magellan space probe reaches Venus.
1994 NASA loses radio contact with the Magellan spacecraft as the probe descends into the thick atmosphere of Venus (the spacecraft presumably burned up in the atmosphere).