They did use parachutes a bit eg. Venera 14: &quot;After entering the atmosphere a parachute was deployed. At an altitude of about 50 km the parachute was released and simple airbraking was used the rest of the way to the surface.&quot; The atmospheric pressure at the surface is 94x Earths so it slows stuff quite well.<p>It survived 57 minutes before cooking.<p>(Wikipedia)