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The Soviet Union launched nearly 30 spacecraft at Venus and became the only nation ever to land on its surface and send back pictures — color photographs of a scorched volcanic plain under a yellow-gr
19FortyFive • • science
Key Points:
- Exploring Venus is extremely difficult due to its crushing atmospheric pressure, extreme surface temperatures around 460°C to 475°C, and a corrosive atmosphere of sulfuric acid clouds and carbon dioxide.
- The Soviet Union is the only nation to have successfully landed and operated spacecraft on Venus, conducting nearly 30 missions between 1961 and 1985, including the Venera and Vega programs.
- Venera 14, which landed in 1982, operated for 57 minutes—longer than expected—capturing the first panoramic color images of Venus’s volcanic surface and analyzing soil and atmospheric conditions.
- The Vega 2 mission in 1985 deployed a lander and a balloon that floated in Venus’s atmosphere for over 46 hours, collecting valuable atmospheric data despite the harsh conditions.
- Russia plans to return to Venus with the upcoming Venera-D mission, aiming to launch in the 2030s with an orbiter, lander, and balloon probe, though economic challenges may impact the project’s realization.
