Launch thumb|Route of Venera 1 on a Soviet stamp Venera 1 was the second of two attempts to launch a probe to Venus in February 1961, immediately following the launch of its sister ship Venera-1VA No.1,NSSDC Chronology of Venus Exploration (NASA Goddard Space Center), accessed August 9, 2010 which failed to leave Earth orbit due to the failure of a power transformer. The transformer was wrapped in foil and painted black and white for thermal reasons.https://habr.com/ru/articles/555132/NSSDC Tentatively Identified (Soviet) Missions and Launch Failures (NASA Goddard Space Center), accessed August 9, 2010 Soviet experts launched Venera-1 using a Molniya carrier rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The launch took place at 00:34:36 GMT on 12 February 1961. Vehicle L1-6V steered downrange into a clear blue winter sky and orbit was successfully achieved.
Launch thumb|Route of Venera 1 on a Soviet stamp Venera 1 was the second of .two attempts to launch a probe to Venus in February 1961, immediately following the launch of its sister ship Venera-1VA No.1,NSSDC Chronology of Venus Exploration (NASA Goddard Space Center), accessed August 9, 2010 which failed to leave Earth orbit due to the failure of a power transformer. The transformer was wrapped in foil and painted black and white for thermal reasons.https://habr.com/ru/articles/555132/NSSDC Tentatively Identified (Soviet) Missions and Launch Failures (NASA Goddard Space Center), accessed August 9, 2010 Soviet experts launched Venera-1 using a Molniya carrier rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The launch took place at 00:34:36 GMT on 12 February 1961. Vehicle L1-6V steered downrange into a clear blue winter sky and orbit was successfully achieved.