Arabbit.293 net.space utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!mhtsa!rabbit!sjb Mon Mar 1 17:41:45 1982 Soviet Space Probe One of two recent probes launched by the USSR last year reached and landed on Venus today, Tass said. The second probe is due to land Friday. Reportedly, the probe sent back 127 minutes worth of transmission and scooped up soil on its first day. The mother ship passed within 23,000 miles of the planet.