Venus is the second closest planet to the Sun and was called the "Taibai" or "Morning Star" by the ancients because it is often one of the brightest celestial bodies in the early morning or late afternoon. Venus and Earth share a lot of similarities, and its volume, mass, and density are comparable to Earth's, so it is considered Earth's "twin sister". However, the surface of Venus is a hellish world, with temperatures of up to 500 degrees Celsius, an atmosphere 90 times more pressure than Earth, and an atmosphere full of carbon dioxide and sulfuric acid vapor. In such an environment, the existence of any life is impossible, and the survival of any man-made device is also extremely difficult. It was such a planet that attracted the attention of Soviet space explorers. From 1961 to 1984, the Soviet Union launched a total of 26 Venus probes, 18 of which successfully landed on the surface of Venus, creating many precedents for space exploration and providing valuable data and images for mankind's understanding of Venus. This is the Soviet Union's Venus program, a space exploration project that has lasted for more than 20 years, and in this issue, we will unravel its mystery and see what stories and mysteries are behind it.
The origins of the Soviet Union's Venus program can be traced back to the late 1950s, when the Soviet Union's space technology had already achieved remarkable achievements, such as the launch of the first artificial satellite, the first cosmonaut, and the first space docking. The space leader of the Soviet Union, Korolev, believed that exploring other planets in the solar system was an important target for space exploration, and Venus was the most suitable choice because it was most similar to Earth and the easiest to reach. Korolev hopes to unravel the mystery of the planet through the exploration of Venus, understand its origin, evolution and possible life conditions, and also prepare for future human landings and colonization. To achieve these goals, the Soviet Union designed different types and functions of probes, including flybys, orbiters, atmospheric probes, and landers, as well as some composite types of probes, such as a combination of orbiters and landers. These probes are all uniformly named the "Venus" series and are numbered in the order in which they were launched, from 1 to 16.
In addition, there are some probes that have not been officially numbered, such as Venera 1VA, Cosmos 482, etc., as well as some probes that cooperate with other countries, such as the Vega program and the Venus-Harley probe, etc. On February 12, 1961, the Soviet Union launched the first Venus probe in human history, Venera-1. The probe was originally planned to fly by once to collect data on Venus's atmosphere and magnetic field, but unfortunately, during the flight, its communication with the ground was interrupted and it was unable to complete its mission. Of the three launches that followed, only Venera 4 successfully passed through the dense clouds of Venus and entered the atmosphere of Venus, and transmitted back information about the atmosphere of Venus. Subsequently, the Soviet Union set about creating a probe capable of withstanding the extremely high atmospheric pressure and harsh environmental conditions of Venus. The probe has a titanium casing and is equipped with high-performance shock absorbers to prevent damage to the internal equipment in the event of an impact on Venus.
In 1970, the Soviet Union successfully launched the Venera-7 probe. The probe successfully opened its parachute at an altitude of about 60 kilometers above the ground when entering the atmosphere of Venus. However, due to the complex and unknown environment at the time, as well as technical limitations, the Soviet Union was unable to use the engine for braking and deceleration, and could only rely on the previously collected data on the thick atmosphere on the surface of Venus to rely on parachute deceleration landing. However, the huge speed of impact when entering the atmosphere caused the parachute to rupture after six minutes. Eventually, the probe crashed into the surface of Venus at nearly 60 kilometers per hour, sending back a signal for just one second. This is the first time that humans have detected the surface of Venus. It was this second of data that made people surprised to find that the air pressure on the surface of Venus is 90 times that of the Earth, and the temperature is as high as 500 degrees Celsius, which is even warmer than Mercury, which is closer to the Sun. Since then, people's impression of the surface of Venus has changed from a beautiful goddess of love to a terrifying hell. The Soviet exploration program did not end there, and on March 5, 1981, the Soviet Union launched the Venera-13 probe, an advanced spacecraft that has been refined and optimized several times, including an orbiter and a lander.
Its mission is to conduct field research on the surface of Venus. After traversing the thick atmosphere of Venus, it managed to land in the Phoebe region near the equator of Venus and took a color photo that shocked the world. In the photo, the surface of Venus presents a yellow desert, as if it has been attacked by a sandstorm, without any signs of life, giving people a sense of hellish horror. The probe also used soil drilling equipment to obtain rock samples from the surface of Venus and analyze them with X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy. However, due to the extremely harsh environment on the surface of Venus, the probe could only work under high temperature and high pressure conditions for two hours before losing contact with Earth. On June 7 of the same year, the Soviet Union launched the Venera 14 probe, which was similar to Venera 13 but carried a number of different scientific instruments, and the lander had a lifetime of 57 minutes on the surface of Venus, during which it sent back eight color photographs of the surface of Venus, as well as some data on the atmosphere and surface of Venus.
The photos show rocks, sand, and debris on the surface of Venus, as well as some structures that resemble lava flows. The lander also carried out an analysis of the soil of Venus, revealing some information about the chemical composition and radioactive elements of Venus. The lander eventually stopped working because the battery was depleted. After a series of explorations, humans have a deeper understanding of Venus and a greater awe of the planet. Venus's atmospheric pressure is enough to kill people instantly, and the atmosphere contains more than 95% of carbon dioxide, creating a strong greenhouse effect, keeping Venus in high temperatures of up to 500 degrees Celsius. In addition, there is a large amount of sulfuric acid vapor in the atmosphere, causing frequent sulfuric acid rain to fall on the surface of Venus. Such an environment can only be described as hell, and it is daunting. The two subsequent Soviet expeditions to Venus only observed and mapped the planet's orbit and did not attempt to land again.
The Soviet Union's Venus program was a very crazy and great space exploration program, which left a strong mark on the history of space and left a deep impression on the hearts of mankind. It is a masterpiece of the Soviet space enterprise and a milestone in the human space enterprise. It is a preliminary exploration of Venus by human beings, and it is also a profound understanding of Venus by human beings. Although the Soviet Union's Venus program has ended, human exploration of Venus has not stopped. With the increase of human interest and demand for Venus, as well as the progress and development of human technology and equipment, human exploration of Venus will also enter a new stage and level. What do you think about Venus!Welcome to one-click triple, that's all for this issue, thank you for watching, I'm exploring the universe, we'll see you next time.