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Venera 14

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technology3 hours ago•13 min saved

The Soviet Venus Quest: First Color Photos From a Blazing World

The Soviet Union led nearly 30 Venus missions (Venera and Vega) from 1961–1984, becoming the only nation to land on Venus and transmit color surface photos before the extreme heat and pressure ended the probes; Venera 14 (1982) delivered iconic panoramic images, while Vega 2 (1984–85) deployed a balloon for atmospheric data, including a famous lens-cap mishap; future Venus missions (Venera-D) are discussed but uncertain due to funding.

via 19FortyFive|

#space-exploration-history #technology #vega-program

space4 days ago•11 min saved

The Lens Cap That Turned a Venus Landing into a Plastic Experiment

On March 5, 1982, the Soviet Venera 14 lander touched down on Venus, ejected its camera lens cap, and, after photographing the surroundings, lowered its mechanical soil-testing arm onto the discarded cap—yielding a measurement of the cap’s plastic compressibility rather than Venusian rock. The piece uses this mishap to illustrate how Venera’s design aimed to survive Venus’s extreme conditions and how the mission’s data still informs later NASA missions like DAVINCI and VERITAS, making it a notable episode in space exploration history.

via 19FortyFive|

#lens-cap #soviet-union #space