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The Pioneer Venus mission had two components: an orbiter and a multiprobe. These spacecraft were launched separately, the orbiter arriving at Venus just a few days ahead of the multiprobe. The orbiter carried 17 experiments, including instruments to see through the clouds and map the surface, as well as measure cloud distribution, atmospheric composition, the magnetic field, the solar wind, properties of the ionosphere of Venus, the gravity field, and gamma ray bursts. The multiprobe spacecraft was actually four separate atmospheric probes hitching a ride on a spacecraft bus. The probes separated from the bus 12.9 million kilometers (8 million miles) before arrival at Venus and entered the atmosphere in different regions of the planet at the same time. The probes made measurements of the structure and composition of the atmosphere all the way to the surface. Meanwhile, the probe bus made measurements in the upper atmosphere, and the Orbiter simultaneously made measurements for comparison.
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