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This blew my mind. I had no idea we ever landed anything on Venus, let alone something that was able to send us pictures from the surface. Fantastic images!

by nixy 14y ago

enraged_camel 14y ago
This was in the 80s, during the Cold War. As such, it's not really surprising that most people (especially Americans) have not heard about it. It is a Soviet accomplishment after all.
- tjic 14y ago
  Oh, please. This was covered extensively in the New York Times, not to mention lots of science magazines. Find the dozens of NYT articles here: http://query.nytimes.com/search/sitesearch/#/venus+probe http://query.nytimes.com/search/sitesearch/#/venus+probe It was so well known that the TV show "The Six Million Dollar Man" had a multi-episode plot arc on the topic. http://bionic.wikia.com/wiki/Death_Probe http://bionic.wikia.com/wiki/Death_Probe http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4st0a0gWp0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4st0a0gWp0 Being born in the very early 1970s isn't good for much, but reminiscing about 300 baud acoustically coupled modems, and talking about the Soviet space program are two exceptions. ;-)
  - enraged_camel 14y ago
    Yeah, but how much was the coverage compared to, say, the Lunar Landing? How many movies were made about it, books written about it, conspiracy theories created about it, etc.
    - ceejayoz 14y ago
      There are conspiracy theories around the Venus landers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venera_13#Suggested_photographic_evidence_of_life http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venera_13#Suggested_photographi...
    - stock_toaster 14y ago
      One involved getting people on the Moon. That is a significant difference. You can bet your skippy that if ever someone steps foot on Mars, there will be books, conspiracies, movies, etc.
    - bandy 14y ago
      Not much. And you're asking the wrong generation about the '69-'72 lunar landings. Coverage was there, for those who were interested in finding it. The Soviets' failures were, of course, highlighted, but their accomplishments weren't downplayed, either.
  - yread 14y ago
    there was also scientific cooperation (from wiki on Venus) > A suite of instruments more sensitive than those on Mariner 2, in particular its radio occultation experiment, returned data on the composition, pressure and density of the Venusian atmosphere.[102] The joint Venera 4 – Mariner 5 data were analyzed by a combined Soviet-American science team in a series of colloquia over the following year,[103] in an early example of space cooperation.[104]
  - readymade 14y ago
    Oh please, yourself. From the abstracts, several of those New York Times articles you linked to are actually about US probes. Those that report on Soviet activities appear to mostly be about the failed missions from the 1960s, as opposed to the 1975 and 1981 missions discussed by the OP.

This blew my mind. I had no idea we ever landed anything on Venus, let alone something that was able to send us pictures from the surface. Fantastic images!

by nixy 14y ago

This blew my mind. I had no idea we ever landed anything on Venus, let alone something that was able to send us pictures from the surface. Fantastic images!

enraged_camel 14y ago

This was in the 80s, during the Cold War. As such, it's not really surprising that most people (especially Americans) have not heard about it. It is a Soviet accomplishment after all.

tjic 14y ago
Oh, please. This was covered extensively in the New York Times, not to mention lots of science magazines. Find the dozens of NYT articles here: http://query.nytimes.com/search/sitesearch/#/venus+probe http://query.nytimes.com/search/sitesearch/#/venus+probe It was so well known that the TV show "The Six Million Dollar Man" had a multi-episode plot arc on the topic. http://bionic.wikia.com/wiki/Death_Probe http://bionic.wikia.com/wiki/Death_Probe http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4st0a0gWp0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4st0a0gWp0 Being born in the very early 1970s isn't good for much, but reminiscing about 300 baud acoustically coupled modems, and talking about the Soviet space program are two exceptions. ;-)
- enraged_camel 14y ago
  Yeah, but how much was the coverage compared to, say, the Lunar Landing? How many movies were made about it, books written about it, conspiracy theories created about it, etc.
  - ceejayoz 14y ago
    There are conspiracy theories around the Venus landers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venera_13#Suggested_photographic_evidence_of_life http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venera_13#Suggested_photographi...
  - stock_toaster 14y ago
    One involved getting people on the Moon. That is a significant difference. You can bet your skippy that if ever someone steps foot on Mars, there will be books, conspiracies, movies, etc.
  - bandy 14y ago
    Not much. And you're asking the wrong generation about the '69-'72 lunar landings. Coverage was there, for those who were interested in finding it. The Soviets' failures were, of course, highlighted, but their accomplishments weren't downplayed, either.
- yread 14y ago
  there was also scientific cooperation (from wiki on Venus) > A suite of instruments more sensitive than those on Mariner 2, in particular its radio occultation experiment, returned data on the composition, pressure and density of the Venusian atmosphere.[102] The joint Venera 4 – Mariner 5 data were analyzed by a combined Soviet-American science team in a series of colloquia over the following year,[103] in an early example of space cooperation.[104]
- readymade 14y ago
  Oh please, yourself. From the abstracts, several of those New York Times articles you linked to are actually about US probes. Those that report on Soviet activities appear to mostly be about the failed missions from the 1960s, as opposed to the 1975 and 1981 missions discussed by the OP.