Jeff Findley wrote:

True, but they had some notable early success with Venus, which is a real
p.i.t.a. for a probe to land on and still remain operational.


I like there final solution: "First we take the parachute off of the
lander."
You read about the density of the Venusian atmosphere, but it's hard to
picture gas so dense that things sink through it like water.
The Vega 1 and 2 missions were particularly impressive; put landers on
the surface, release instrumented balloons into the atmosphere, and then
take a quick cruise over to Halley's Comet. We flubbed that opportunity
so bad with our goofy ion-drive and solar sail ideas that we never even
managed to get a probe with a camera on it near the comet.

Pat