The Veneras were a series of Soviet space probes sent to Venus between 1963 and 1981. They achieved many firsts, including the first probe to crash on another planet and the first to make a soft landing. The probes were heavy-duty and designed to withstand the extreme conditions of Venus, but their onboard batteries limited their function to only 30-50 minutes. The Veneras 1 and 2 failed, but subsequent probes managed to reach the surface and take measurements, including observing winds with speeds exceeding 328 feet/sec and making the first recordings of sounds on another world.
The Veneras were a series of Soviet space probes launched between 1963 and 1981. Their target was Venus. Among the Veneras were the first probe to crash on another planet (Venera 4 in October 1967), to make a soft landing on another planet (Venera 7 on December 15, 1970), to take images of the surface of a another planet (Venera 9 on June 8, 1975) and to perform high resolution radar mapping of Venus (Venera 15 on June 2, 1983). These results make Venera one of the most successful probe series ever.
Venus is extremely hot at 830°F (433°C) and pressurized to 93 atmospheres. This is similar to the pressure under 0.62 miles (1 kilometer) of water on Earth. The extreme conditions of Venus and the limitations of the onboard batteries meant that the probes that reached the surface did not function for a long time, generally between 30 and 50 minutes. The Veneras were heavy-duty probes, weighing between 1 and 3 tonnes (0.9 and 2.7 tons) and about the size of small cars.
Venera 1 and 2 were both failures; the former never even left Earth orbit, and communication with the latter was lost on its way to Venus. Venera 3 was successful, performing the function of an atmospheric probe. Its hull could only withstand 25 atmospheres of pressure, not Venus’ 93, so it was crushed before reaching the surface. However, it made history as the first probe to crash land on another planet.
Veneras 3 to 6 were similar to each other: all were designed to measure the Venusian atmosphere as they were crushed by it during descent. Venera 7 was much stronger, designed to get to the surface intact. It was massively overpowered, so it had few experiments aboard, but it managed to land on the Venusian surface, but not before its parachute failed very close to landing and it impacted at 55.7 ft/sec (17 metres/sec). Fortunately, it survived, although the bad orientation of its antenna made it difficult to get a reading from Earth.
All subsequent Venera probes managed to reach the surface and take measurements. Among other discoveries, they observed winds with wind speeds exceeding 328 feet/sec (100 meters/sec) in Venus’ upper atmosphere and made the first recordings of sounds on another world.
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