 The first flyby was the 1961 Venera 1, though the 1962 Mariner 2 was the first flyby to successfully return data.Mariner 2 has been followed by several other flybys by multiple space agencies often as part of missions using a Venus flyby to provide a gravitational assist en route to other celestial bodies.In 1967 Venera 4 became the first probe to enter and directly examine the atmosphere of Venus.