Venera: The Incredible Probe that the Soviets Sent to Venus

[@megaprojects9649]

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[@phoenixrivenus9270]

9:52... Mars?! Lol!

[@Darth-Claw-Killflex]

Squarespace is a scam, creating a website is simple, there are plenty of free tutorials on KZbin.

[@latenighter1965]

The tech we have today, with carbon fiber and more, we should build another landing probe and go there again, soon.

[@meditatewithme6254]

The probe looks like lord shiva

[@Dexter_Durden]

@@phoenixrivenus9270 m??1. C. C.

[@johnallen8248]

The Soviets successfully landing on Venus and snapping a picture from one of the most inhospitable places in the solar system is probably the most underrated space achievement of all time.

[@timchristensen2522]

While I would dispute *any* space achievement could qualify as underrated, you're not wrong. NASAs wins over the last fifty years have been nothing short of amazing, but people still seem to forget the utter insanity of the USSR landing a probe and taking the first interplanetary photos from what could literally be described as the surface of hell

[@s7robin105]

It’s largely due to US propaganda from the cold war. The space race itself saw the Soviets achieve MANY first time space achievements. But the US landed humans on the moon and that’s largely the only things kids learn about space exploration in that period

[@KakMugi]

I agree. Common people know about the moon landing and the mars rover but they don’t know the Soviets had a picture of the most dangerous planets in the solar system with their famous hard brick engineering.

[@derrickallen2054]

I have to agree, and you have a cool last name

[@TommygunNG]

All those rubles spent to finally get a probe to the surface of an essentially useless planet, to learn a tad bit more about how useless it is.

[@Sacto1654]

The fact it actually even _worked_ on the surface of Venus' acidic, high pressure atmosphere is already an amazing achievement in itself.

[@kryten6569]

The fact it worked without its parachute opening and landing with a thud speaks wonders

[@mdj.6179]

It was fake just like our Apollo moon landings. Same sound stage...

[@thalassaer4137]

​@@kryten6569 the atmosphere was just that THICC

[@juser-abuser]

@@kryten6569 There is no need of parachute on Venus. The atmospheric pressure is 93 bar.

[@howitusedtobe]

What went wrong ?! The USSR landed and tried to maintain a piece of sensitive equipment on a 900 degree surface with pressure I believe exceeding that of the deepest ocean depths here in earth … The fact that it landed, let alone being operational for a short time is absolutely mind blowing … That atmosphere (as we know it) contains sulfuric acid clouds and carbon dioxide … and is incredibly thick .. im shocked that this particular probe didn’t disintegrate during atmospheric insertion.

[@john-paulsilke893]

They did so much with so little.

[@howitusedtobe]

@@john-paulsilke893 and somehow … with the wealth of advancement and technology…we’re still running behind quite a ways

[@FrankyPi]

@HowItUsedToBe Modern electronics are actually significantly more susceptible to these harsh conditions than the crude components used then. They're actually considering a mix of analog and digital or solely analog technology for use in future planned robotic missions to the surface. They are also aiming for a significantly longer mission time which makes it even more challenging.

[@howitusedtobe]

@@FrankyPi I hadn’t considered that .. I agree that things are much more fragile and complicated in present day … Do we not have sufficient shielding capability at this stage ?

[@FrankyPi]

@HowItUsedToBe I don't think we lack technology to make the new missions possible, it's just a matter of solving some engineering problems and to get the funding for some of these concepts.

[@Nokard]

Nothing went wrong with the legendary venera missions, the fact that the probe landed in one of the worst conditions in the solar system is amazing, the fact that it was still working is fascinating and the fact they even sent photos is nothing short of a miracle, its beautiful to witness what the human mind can do without the hate and politics. This is true passion.

[@GodwynDi]

"Without the hate and the politics" you are familiar with the context of the space race, yes?

[@Nokard]

@GodwynDi extremely so, and the scientists cared extremely little about politics, but once the space race stopped being a mediatic propaganda tool, they shut it down, so my points stands as it is.

[@Kitty12476]

*mission was entirely fueled on pure hate and politics*

[@Mohamedistan_offical95]

​@@Kitty12476not hate,just purely racing

[@FSAPOJake]

I have such respect for the Soviet scientists and engineers that worked on this. No matter how many times they failed, they just kept trying and trying until they finally got it. I feel like no country nowadays would ever be as tenacious about space travel and exploration as the Americans and Soviets were in the 50s-70s.

[@JimBob-vb8oz]

It’s amazing what you’ll do with a gun to your head

[@gomahklawm4446]

China is just getting started...India as well.

[@arcadiaberger9204]

Some coalition of nations or research groups needs to revive the spirit of *_Venera._* Earth needs the *_Novaya Venera Proyekt,_* being both a revival of the original *_Venera_* ideals and also an effort to transform Venus herself into a new world, one where humans live and build a civilization, not merely to study our sister planet but to develop a new way of living in floating cities in her upper atmosphere.

[@Maxwell_Brune]

I don't know how this program held for as long as it did and was not cancelled sooner.

[@theprotagonist8755]

Yeah or else they would be pew pewed

[@EmilyJelassi]

Not many countries would continue to spend the millions of dollars that space missions cost, especially after so many initial failures. But to get a lander to photograph the surface of Venus with those hellish temperatures.. just amazing! It’s a shame that those records were lost.

[@jettrd_utilitychnl4230]

Photos are not lost. The whole archive is perfectly fine and available

[@itzvader5560]

Probe that landed on titan we lost some photos of

[@elizabethnilsson1815]

They are not lost just kept secret.

[@ARWest-bp4yb]

Hats off to the Soviet scientists who persevered, and ultimately engineered the only probes to explore the Venusian surface! 👍👍

[@MrWeezy312]

This sounds like sexual innuendo

[@ARWest-bp4yb]

@@MrWeezy312 🤣

[@TheNoiseySpectator]

Well I hate to do it, but I will also take my hat off to them for that. 🎩

[@zimriel]

@@MrWeezy312 no, that would be the 'venereal surface' which, admittedly, is better Latin, and better Russian

[@Scooty_Scooty]

Wonder how many Nazj scientists were involved in this, seeing as the Soviets like America took alot of Nazi scientists after WW2.

[@legit.peasant]

If anything the Venera landers should be seen as a huge feat of engineering for their time. To see they lasted as long as they did on the surface of Venus says a lot about how well built they were. It would be cool to see a return to Venus to perhaps recover a surface sample, but that's a pretty big ask in the grand scheme of things. Still it'd be interesting to see what kind of brimstone is on the hellish surface of our nearest neighbor.

[@glenchapman3899]

Oh trust me it was a very big deal at the time. Everyone was amazed the probe hung on as long as it did once it landed.

[@АгронДепартье]

I knew the head of Russian institute which designed the gas analyser for that mission. He told me that US and EU have provided their analysers, too. Only his analyser worked. The key to success ? The design request specification stated that overload would be 10G. He instructed his team to assume 50G... Because "I knew our people..."

[@rossharper1983]

Fair play to the Soviets for the determination on this matter.

[@Redgolf2]

Probably checking the conditions before invading! 😏

[@Itried20takennames]

Agree, they had some great scientists, but expect it was more a case of: 1. Dictator wants to brag his country is “the best” or at least “as good as or better than the US” 2. Dictator pushes their tech and science people to pursue whatever topic shows how “advanced” the dictator’s country is, even if the resources needed meant the other 95% of the population lived in poverty

[@DerptyDerptyDUM]

I hear the Soviets are a tad tenacious.

[@carkawalakhatulistiwa]

@@Redgolf2 oh yes Irak have weapon of mass destruction called America. America coup against Ukraine's elected government 2014

[@TommygunNG]

Yes, very tenacious. I’m getting a probe onto a useless planet to learn the tab bit more about just how useless it is. That’s not determination. That’s stupidity.

[@DarkVader23]

As you mentioned Viking lander, The Soviet were also the first to land a probe on Mars with the Mars landers. It didn't last long but the feat was done.

[@marinhaalternativa3829]

Venera is my favorite obscure space mission, Venus is so interesting

[@sandydennylives1392]

...and the sulfuric rains add a further piquant delight. Venus hath many charms and many health spa's.

[@namikstudios]

Considering the unbelievably harsh environment they were dealing with, these probes were hugely successful and gathered a lot of info.

[@harryzain]

Soviet scientist probably figured if they can land on Venus, anything else would be easier. With the tech avaolable back then, amazing ppl accomplished crazy stuff on both sides of the race, but the Venera probes were a whole different level of determination.

[@TheNoiseySpectator]

That is Exactly Right. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[@victorzvyagintsev1325]

Mars is a curse for Soviets/Russians. For some reason this planet gave us the most trouble.

[@Lemmon714_]

Cigarettes, coffee and slide rules got us into space.

[@seand.g423]

@@Lemmon714_ well, that and an actual semblance of genuine critical thinking... At least in academia...

[@alexanderkuhn2298]

Landing on Venus IS easy, the atmosphere is perfect for slowing things down to a reasonable speed. The problem is staying on the hellish surface for any useful period of time. Mars, despite the lower gravity, is much harder to land on due to its atmosphere being thin. It is very hard to slow things down enough before they hit the surface, requires a lot of precision but if you can do it then you can stay for potentially years during a robotic mission compared to minutes or hours for Venus

[@TheNoiseySpectator]

I don't think the Venera missions were a failure at all. ☺️ They learned a lot from them, much of it was unexpected and even unimagined.

[@Fiasco3]

That's what I was thinking. It's not a failure if you actually get data back to Earth. It's more just limited success, that you couldn't get more info.

[@donrobertson4940]

It's amazing what people had to do before wikipedea.

[@SnotGobbler57]

Yeah, where are the wise cliche's now, like, "nothing ventured nothing gained", rather than outright invalidation that it is a failure. Russia is not the disgrace nor the source of moral decay and decline of the human race. Not a mankind anymore.

[@jackdoe552]

@@donrobertson4940 got me 😆

[@mdj.6179]

@@Fiasco3 And if that data tends to show you made misassumptions you're so far ahead than if you had no idea...

[@richardmann145]

Couldn't of under estimated the achievement of the Venera missions. There is a reason we haven't gone back. Always remember ( One of my first memories in astronomy) of Patrick Moore being very exited of the Soviet pictures sent back. Truly hellish planet & remember scientists saying how dead the rest of the solar system was. Amazing still, is the modern discoveries of multiple ocean moon's all the way to the Pluto we now have the snippets of that exist out there. More funding for space & less for weapons we darn not use.

[@tomhenry897]

Space funding went to welfare not warfare

[@wolfshanze5980]

Well ask the Ukranians if weapons are still a needed thing.

[@Cykyn]

@@wolfshanze5980 against their own government maybe!

[@Soulstillburns-r1g]

​@@wolfshanze5980 but the us doesn't need to be the only country providing them

[@wolfshanze5980]

@bravos1264 the US isn't... do you even follow the news?

[@atomicskull6405]

The disk at the top of the lander is an air brake and thanks to the thick atmosphere the landing was comparable to the probe being dropped about 10 feet on earth.

[@TimPerfetto]

The disk at the top of the probe is thick thanks to the atmosphere. The lander is dropped about 10 feet on earth comparable to an air brake

[@tf_d]

@@TimPerfetto injected MDMA into my CAHK VEIN

[@comet.x]

@@TimPerfetto air brake disk the 10 feet thick atmosphere thanks the landing comparable probe the to thick atmosphere was on earth.

[@krukimoto6296]

@@comet.x the 10 feet earth was comparable to a drop on an air brake disc thanks to the atmosphere of thick

[@d.i.266]

@@krukimoto6296 The Earth disc was ten feet thick so Alien probed to drop atmosphere on landing top

[@samuelgarrod8327]

Arguably amongst the top 8 most dangerous planets.

[@sandydennylives1392]

Not even close. One planet has 4600, or is that 5400 mph winds with sideways glass rain and is a lot hotter as well, and many many planets are simply too close to their star and you 'aint landing any probes anywhere near 'em. So actually being able to leave your spaceship on the surface and be a pile of ash on the surface in under a second is an impossible dream.

[@ajstevens1652]

@@sandydennylives1392 I think it was a joke about there being 8 planets in the solar system.

[@sandydennylives1392]

@@ajstevens1652 Yeah, perhaps. It will be death from radiation/heat and cold on Mercury, radiation and 'sand' that will gum up any electronics in the month's long planet wide dust storms on Mars, large radiation within 40,000 km of Jupiter and getting crushed almost instantly if you make it to the cloud layer, only the 1400 mph winds with particulate matter within on Neptune ape the 5,400 mph monster as a mini me. It's all rather cosy in our solar system and that's the way uh huh I like it.

[@HoldMyBeerPls]

Yeah, Venus is number 2, behind Earth.

[@sandydennylives1392]

@@HoldMyBeerPls No Covid on Venus dude, it's a stress free paradise, our new favorite place. Short term lets available, rent's modest. Auburn sunsets to sooth the senses.

[@ClellBiggs]

To me Venus is the most interesting of all of the solar system's planets. So much like Earth and yet so different. Possibly so similar it may have had liquid water oceans and life at one point. It's also mysterious. Because of the thick atmosphere and extreme conditions on the surface it's difficult to study so we know very little about it, and that's after having sent probes there.

[@PhilJonesIII]

Even if it had an atmosphere like Earth at one time, the 5800 hour long day would go a long way to upset the balance.

[@DanAlexC]

I remember seeing an interview with a soviet space engineer and in the early stages of the Venera program they built the probes as solid as they could then they recreated the conditions on the surface of Venus in a pressure chamber. When they open the chamber, the thick armored probe was completely liquified. The harsh conditions of Venus really took everyone by surprise. Not a bad place to cook an omelet tho.

[@Melody_Raventress]

Terrifying place to cook a omelette. Unless you like your eggs dissolved into scorched ash.

[@DanAlexC]

@@Melody_Raventress at any given moment millions of people are making venus omelettes right here on Earth

[@mercster]

The photos of Venus's surface taken by the Venera craft fascinate me. Of course Mars surface photos are just as fascinating, but they are ho hum these days, since they are so common (relatively.) Venus is also a lot more harsh environment so, yeah... I dunno, I love that photo. Very intriguing.

[@CartoonHero1986]

The funniest thing about the first pictures of Venus from these probes was they almost caused and international incident. Russia was facing away from Venus when the pictures started transmitting back and the pictures where already collected and in News Papers in the UK before anyone stopped to think "Has anyone called the Russians about these?" So Russia despite sending the probes was one of the last major powers to see the pictures of Venus.

[@sleepmnan22sleepman50]

But wasn't that with Luna 9 ?

[@firstmkb]

Oh, that is sad!

[@DS9TREK]

You're wrong. You're thinking of the Moon landings

[@CartoonHero1986]

Yep the people saying this was the Luna 9 mission are right. I had the missions mixed up but yeah this did happen just for a Moon Probe not a Venus Probe mission. My bad, and thanks for the correction

[@broccanmacronain457]

People need to follow up watching this video with the one you made about the possible creation of cloud cities in Venus' atmosphere. It is a good follow-up.

[@rais1953]

While it's theoretically possible for a blimp type habitat to survive for a while in the upper atmosphere of Venus I haven't seen any explanation anywhere of where the materials and equipment for a cloud top habitat would be obtained. Would everything be brought from Earth? If so, what's the point? It would make more sense to put the habitat in Earth orbit or on the Moon. Not much sense but more than Venus.

[@tomhenry897]

A sci-fi book had space stations with robot mining machines on the plant send up rare ores

[@broccanmacronain457]

@@rais1953 I did not say it was viable (which I sincerely doubt) but it is a good continuation for this video.

[@RCAvhstape]

I have always dreamed of traveling to exotic locations around the solar system, but a cloud colony in the Venusian atmosphere is near the bottom of the list. I can imagine a yellow, featureless atmosphere with no other colors or details to look at, and constant anxiety about the buoyancy devices failing and dooming us to a horrible death in the dense acid atmosphere below. If that's your thing, then cool. For my part, I'll pass.

[@wolfshanze5980]

@@rais1953 The reason why a "cloud city" works in the upper Venus atmosphere is a combination of things... pressure, temperature, etc, etc... the "perfect" amount of pressure, temperature, etc exist in the upper atmosphere of Venus to support a "cloud city"... those conditions do NOT exist in Earth's atmosphere (too cold, too thin) and most certainly not in Mars... ummm... "atmosphere" (or rather, near non-existent one). As for actually BUILDING said Cloud City... ya... that's the catch.

[@BruceBoyde]

Ah! Venera is one of my favorite "space things". Especially as Venus becomes of higher interest, it's crazy knowing what we did decades ago and most Americans just kind of never heard about.

[@TheNoiseySpectator]

Eh, it was the Cold War. Even if they did want to share some of their discoveries with the Western World, they didn't want to share too much. 🕵️‍♂️

[@TheNoiseySpectator]

And, what do you mean "we"? You are not saying the Americans and the Soviets are just arbitrary differences, are you? 😠

[@BruceBoyde]

@@TheNoiseySpectator We humans. Science and exploration adds to the collective knowledge of the human race and transcends nations. Much of what we know of Venus is owed to the Soviets, and much of what they know of the moon is owed to America. There's a reason why projects like the ISS and use of launch facilities have generally been above the mire if political squabbling.

[@godhatesusall85]

It was all a dick measuring contest.

[@TheNoiseySpectator]

@@godhatesusall85 Were you there, during The Cold War? Do you know what it was like to look up into the sky at night and see *proof* that the regime which claimed your civilization deserved to be driven into extinction, could drop nuclear bombs on you, at any time? How about waking up every day knowing that at any time, _any time_ , the Entire World could come to an end with only fifteen minutes notice.... Not just civilization, or all civilizations, or or all of humanity, but, ALL LIFE, EVERYWHERE? And, if you think that is just an American point of view, or that I am exaggerating, then you go talk to people who live in eastern Germany about why a literal, physical *Wall* was needed to keep them from fleeing "The Utopian Civilization of Humanities Future"?

[@zzyzx0069]

Thank you Simon! I have been waiting since your first videos on this channel for this exact video!!

[@joaocolaco1498]

The Venera missions were incredible and don't take the right recognition

[@seand.g423]

🤔 You mean the _existent_ kind?

[@JoeCensored]

I knew the soviets reached the surface, but not so many times. Incredible

[@jamesmeeker6933]

Simon is the greatest narrator of our age. Seriously, how is this guy not been scooped up by a media corporation?

[@rodgunn2621]

His enunciation and volume are inconsistent.

[@Bobrogers99]

I knew the USSR sent one probe to Venus, but I was unaware of the lengthy series that they sent. I'm impressed with their success rate, even if the probes were so quickly destroyed by the environment.

[@mrspaceman2764]

I'd always wondered how cool it would be to see a new world for the first time, as the pictures came in and were released to the public. Finally got to experience that with the Huygens lander on Titan and it was absolutely amazing! I must have spent an entire week focusing on every pixel of those photos. I really want NASA to release actual video from Juno's view of Jupiter. The time laps composites are cool and a marvel but something about a live video, even if it looked like a still, would be amazing. Can't wait for the Europa and future Triton and Titan missions. Now that China has really stepped up their space game, we have a new space race on our hands. I'll stair in awe at the data returned while crossing my fingers we come out the other end without almost starting WW3... Again...

[@joshh535]

You don’t seem to understand transmission rates… getting a “live” video feed from Jupiter would actually be delayed by almost an hour. Also what you’re asking is to be able to see exactly what the scientists/engineers are seeing/doing in real time. And that’s stupid. Maybe go become a scientist/engineer and work on the project yourself if you’re so interested?

[@joshh535]

Admittedly you don’t seem to understand a lot lol. Like the difference between “stair” and “stare”. Or the fact that WW3 hasn’t been started, so how could it “start *again”?!*

[@chitlitlah]

@@joshh535 I read that as he was crossing his fingers *again* that WW3 doesn't start as it almost did during the cold war. The tension is there just like it was when the Venera missions happened. The stair thing is a valid criticism, but it's just one mistake. At least he knows the difference between there, they're, and their unlike many.

[@rais1953]

Right now we've got Russia, NATO and their allies trying to start WW3 in Ukraine, not far from the Balkans where WW1 started and Poland where WW2 started. Troublesome people these Europeans.

[@RCAvhstape]

Watching the first close up photos of Pluto come in was pretty exciting, too. That's a possible once in a lifetime event to witness.

[@TTcodfather]

Another great video worth watching! I was a kid who loved anything about space during some of these missions. Because of politics we heard very little about the Soviet accomplishments. It was later in life the stories filtered out to the western public about these amazing feats even the failed ones. I'd like to see you do a video on one of the Soviets most successful programs...LunoKhod! Most people have never heard of it. That was due to the politics of the time and hurt feelings in the US space program being beaten again in the race to the moon.

[@LloydWaldo]

I found it really unfortunate that the way it is recounted in textbooks makes it sound like these missions failed, or that they “didn’t survive” on the surface and were thus a waste. Americans were led to believe these missions were failures, and for a long time that’s how they were seen, until we learned more about the missions and it turns out the Soviets knew exactly what they were doing.

[@seand.g423]

@Lloyd the Writer and, as we all know... Only the ones we are allowed to count as _living things,_ let alone _humans_ could ever be capable of knowing anything of the _sort..._ 😒

[@alekseypetrov8520]

Еще один пьяный ватник...

[@robbyblackwell7247]

Thanks Mr. Whistler I had no idea of these missions by the Soviet Union

[@arcadiaberger9204]

Shameful that so many people don't even know about *_Venera._*

[@kevinlindstrom8486]

I think it's amazing what they accomplished, especially considering how much they didn't know about Venus when they started it. They certainly overcame many more challenges than we did on Mars. And frankly it's not their fault that Venus turned out to be so inhospitable. I think it's even more amazing that they had the success they did despite how inhospitable it is.

[@billflood50]

Great episode, thank you! I vaguely remember the first descriptions of Hellscape Venus, but confess I didn't recall it came from the Soviets. I'd like to think the determination and persistence was due to a pure search for Knowledge, but obviously there were politics at work as well. Surprise, surprise. And yet they revealed an entire other world to this one. Very cool.

[@AceSpadeThePikachu]

I said it before on your Geographics channel video all about Venus, but Earth's "evil twin" is a world that still fascinates me as it holds so many secrets under those thick toxic clouds about its distant past and even present geological and atmospheric activity, and I'm so glad NASA is finally going to take another look with planned missions in the near future.

[@alekseypetrov8520]

No, Earth is true 'evil twin' of Venus, because life, especially so called 'intelligent life' is true evil thing.

[@SnackPack913]

The Soviets were amazing competitors in the space race. I like how much respect nasa and the soviets had for eachother over the common ground of science

[@martinstallard2742]

0:48 our first visits to another world 2:55 try, try again: Venera 3 4:42 sponsorship 5:51 reaching the surface 7:27 surface or bust 9:31 history's most expensive selfie 12:10 pics or it didn't happen 14:57 outshone by the red planet

[@ignitionfrn2223]

My man, we need another timestamper on the Whistlerverse !!!

[@alanbear6505]

The oddest tribute to this project was from the show The Six Million Dollar Man. His most powerful adversary was a Russian Venus probe that accidentally landed back on Earth.

[@xxi7511]

The Venera missions are important also because the data collected has shown that a runaway greenhouse effect is not just a theory, but a distinct possibility. Also, one mind boggling question remains: Venus turned into superhot hell mere 300 million years ago. It means that for like 90% of its existence, it was much closer to how Earth is now. Possibly long enough for life to appear, perhaps even thrive for quite some time. What happened? What triggered the change? What sort of dramatic change turned it into hell?

[@sabretooth1997]

Perhaps, but there are two (related) wildcards: the extremely slow rotation period and complete lack of a magnetic field. Those didn't just happen 300+ million years ago, so I find it a bit unlikely that Venus was ever an analog of Earth, at least over any significant timescale. But, then again, who knows. The universe is a strange place.

[@xxi7511]

@@sabretooth1997 that's the problem - we know what happened, we know that there were some fundamental differences but the whole mechanism but we still do not have the full picture. IIRC it would seem that massive scale volcanic eruptions at least contributed to the final disaster. What was before, though?

[@anorthosite]

One clarification: The fastest wind on Venus is in the mid-to-upper atmosphere, which is why the balloon probes traveled so far around the (barely rotating) planet in just a day or so. The SURFACE winds on Venus are only a couple of km/hr. But due to the atmospheric density at the surface, that would be enough to move soil and even small rocks. At that pressure, the atmosphere at the surface is believed to behave almost like a liquid.

[@mr88cet]

It never ceases to amaze me that the Soviets had so much hard-won success with Venus, and yet so little luck with Mars - a *_far_* easier target!

[@garrylivie5862]

Got to love the determination of the soviets on that one. Went from the question being “is this planet hospitable” too “well we know it’s not but we need to know the conditions anyway” and kept beefing up the test probe to find out

[@kevinbarnard3502]

I remember when the Soviets finally developed a probe sturdy and strong enough to actually successfully go to Venus and survive. But, it somehow got loose on Earth wreaking havoc and it took Colonel Steve Austin to destroy it and save us.

[@1pcfred]

That was a legendary episode. It was called Death Probe and it aired Jan 9, 1977

[@kevinbarnard3502]

Just HAD to mention its air date, didn't ya? And, now i feel old. I remember watching it when it aired. Thanks for that. :P

[@JoshuaTootell]

I remember hearing about it in some sort of history study. Something about the guy being worth a million dollars or something

[@weirdshibainu]

Actually it happened in real life, but the media didn't cover it.

[@wolfshanze5980]

Lol... I used to be a fan of Steve Austin in my youth, but I had forgotten the episode and it's been... ummm... a minute... so when I read your post, I thought there was a more recent movie with "Stone Cold Steve Austin" in it... ie: not Lee Majors (I sometimes forget there are still people as old as me that walk the earth).

[@neilbain8736]

The sound recordings make fascinating listening if you find them. Venus is really a rather interesting planet from the point when it was more Earth until now. There seems to be a lot of deuterium about, more than there should be, which raises some questions about what happened to the water.

[@TheDealMaster]

With a significant increase in technology, I'd love for someone to send a rover or something. The conditions are so brutal though... that is likely why no one has tried it since.

[@greggv8]

Didn't mention that a lens cap from Venera 14 ejected properly but landed on the surface precisely where the surface compressibility test sensor deployed, thus they got no useful data from that instrument. It's amazing that the probes worked at all. All of them had various problems.

[@tenthdimension9836]

This is an amazing accomplishment on the part of the Soviets. Just think about The fact that it's been 53 years since they did this. Whoever they had working on this particular project somehow managed to accomplish their goal despite all the BS it was going on inside the Soviet Union of the time. Brilliant!

[@alekseypetrov8520]

They made it with the price of economic development of their society. Do you know a Soviet brainteaser: 'What is long green and smells like sausadge? Electrichka (electric rail train) Tula - Moscow'. Because only in Moscow you could buy a bit of sausage. Пожить бы вам в этой сраной помойке, тупое блевацкое зумерье, you'd instantly change your mind.

[@NZobservatory]

In the 1948 SF novel, _The World of Null-A,_ author A.E. van Vogt envisioned Venus to be a world covered in giant forests of equally giant trees, a view common among many of his time. I had old science books as a kid in which Venus was still depicted as possibly being a prehistoric Earth, complete with dinosaurs.

[@daveSoupy]

How come you didnt mention the part of the Venus missions where they couldn't get a soil sample because the lens cap that popped off was in the way of the drill hitting the soil? That feels like the most tragic part of the whole set of missions.

[@Cameron655]

Aww, c'mon. Do you know how many channels he has?! He makes like 350 thousand videos a week: he can't cover *everything*. 😆

[@arcadiaberger9204]

I believe you are referring to an accident which befel the NASA Viking lander on Mars, actually.

[@georgejones3526]

@@arcadiaberger9204 No, he’s referring to Venera 14. A lens cap landed exactly where a spring loaded compressiblilty sensor was supposed to test the soil. It instead tested the lens cap.

[@georgejones3526]

12:50 - He mentions it here but is in error about what it did. It did not block the camera, it blocked a soil compressibility sensor.

[@arcadiaberger9204]

@@georgejones3526 Ah. Pity.

[@christiane.g.4142]

Dude! You cmpletely omitted any mention of the 3 hours and sound recordings recorded my Venera #14. No joke, it sounds like a terrestrial hurricane

[@alekseypetrov8520]

It sounds like bell of perestroika if you understand it.

[@tgmccoy1556]

"We've tried each spinning space mote and reckoned it's true worth, take us back again to homes of men and the cool, green hills of Earth".-Hienlein

[@arcadiaberger9204]

"We've tried the air of Venus - we retch at her fetid breath" -- Rhysling had no idea.

[@tgmccoy1556]

@@arcadiaberger9204 nope.

[@rexkramer5351]

venera and the voyager missions are the greatest achievements in human space exploration yet. i hope i'll still be alive when space travel becomes a true adventure again.

[@jimmybisk]

I've always liked to imagine what it would have been like if they had discovered a world teaming with just as much of a diversity of life as our own. Who knows, maybe they'd have visited us too!

[@ursodermatt8809]

the imagination knows no bounds

[@Vladpryde]

15:41 "Bees Footjob". There, now you'll never read that the same way again.🤣

[@ignitionfrn2223]

0:50 - Chapter 1 - Our 1st visits to another world 3:00 - Chapter 2 - Try, try again, venera 3 4:40 - Mid roll ads 5:55 - Chapter 3 - Reaching the surface 7:30 - Chapter 4 - Surface or bust 9:35 - Chapter 5 - History's most expensive selfie 12:15 - Chapter 6 - Pics or it didn't happen 15:00 - Chapter 7 - Outshone by the red planet

[@Sh_rib]

You've got competition now lol 😁😁😁

[@jollyjohnthepirate3168]

With a surface temperature greater than molten lead, horrific atmospheric pressure and acidic beyond belief the pictures are amazing considering they're taken in a hell scape.

[@setoman1]

Holy balls, Simon! This is the first time you “didn’t” mispronounce a foreign language name! 🥳🎉 Drinks on Simon today!

[@alekseypetrov8520]

Terrorist, learn Chechen, bydlo.

[@steveharrison76]

Not going to lie, but the Venera probes 8 and 9 are cute as hell. They look like a robot frog in a fancy tophat.

[@georgesabol459]

The Soviet scientists deserved credit, they did an amazing job. Imagine if we had teamed up instead of fighting?

[@therexbellator]

TIL Soviet Space program was playing Kerbal Space Program ahead of everyone else. Hats off to them for their perseverance despite so many setbacks.

[@Cer-i9e]

I love the old 1900's fiction where they fantasise about the jungles or Venus and Mars xD

[@JM-lk6wo]

Edgar Rice Burroughs had a wild imagination, for sure. 😉

[@Cer-i9e]

@@JM-lk6wo ill have to check him out. My favourite has to be Clark Ashton Smith. Dude was a phenomenal writer.

[@paulbennett7021]

Getting stuff onto the Moon or even Mars is a doddle compared to Venus. Venera 13 returning A/V back to Earth is, in my view, the single greatest achievement in space exploration at the time, only recently bettered, with superior technology, by returning the same from Titan.

[@jebediahgentry7029]

It blows my mind that the Soviets were able to do this with the technology available to them in the freaking 70s. I mean landing on Venus is probably the most difficult place to land on in the solar system and they did it back then

[@ericfielding2540]

Great explanation of the Soviet missions to Venus. New missions are underway to go to Venus from NASA and ESA.

[@Lawnmower737]

@@ericfielding2540 I’m really hoping for the 2nd age of space to be real this time. After decades of not progressing as fast as one would think, less achievements, defunding, and lack of public interest it’s good to see more people becoming interested again. I want to see people go to great lengths with space in my time. These new NASA and ESA missions look promising.

[@AcaciaApparition]

I could listen to Simon talk about literally ANYTHING

[@karltheplaya]

Quite amazing!

[@kylebriggs190]

Russia's pictures of Venus got me interested in planets and space back when I was young in the 80's.

[@paigelore]

I remember watching a movie as a kid where we had a city on Venus. In the movie it was a rain planet where the clouds only parted for one day every 7 years. The movie was focused as I remember it on a group of kids in a school on Venus. One kid was from earth and would tell the class all about the sun. The rest of the kids were Venus born and didn’t believe the earth kid and ended up locking him in a basement on the day the sun was scheduled to break thru the rain clouds. :/

[@TheNoiseySpectator]

A Ray Bradbury story.

[@TonyHammitt]

There was this other show (TV movie?) where they figured out how to teraform Venus and then when they landed they found that they'd destroyed a civilization. Venus stuff tends to be pretty disturbing...

[@TimPerfetto]

I remember watching a movie where one kid has a city on Venus. I focused on the rest of the kids and didn't believe the sun was scheduled to break for one day every seven years.

[@sandybarnes887]

All Summer In A Day. As mentioned, a Ray Bradbury short story

[@zotfotpiq]

All summer in a day?

[@yawg691]

If yall have never listened to the audio recordings, you should. They are mostly windy sounds but man its the sounds of another world! Empty almost eerie sounding.

[@mrlarry271]

My uncle had a children's science book from the early 1960's that speculated that there was a rainforest under there.

[@vonfaustien3957]

That was common with Victorian and early modren science fiction.

[@martinschulz9381]

Always fascinating to see surface of another world.

[@allanfelipebss]

Awesome. Thanks for all your videos. You made me company during some harsh time... Thanks. Keep the good work

[@cesarvidelac]

Same here, I sincerely hope you are doing fine now 👍

[@rjpx947]

The earlier missions in the USSR Venera series were failures simply because no one had a clue what we were up against, trying to get a lander down to the surface of Venus. Truly hellish conditions...nothing that goes down there comes back, but Venera was a long term success for the Soviets, and a big win for science as well. Proof that Russian tenacity can be a good thing, when applied to a good cause.

[@jasontoddman7265]

13:00 - The Venusian surface wind speeds Simon quotes are completely incorrect. The average recorded wind speed there is only about 2 - 3 km per hour because the dense atmosphere is very hard to move. However, because of that dense atmosphere, the wind has the equivalent force of 200 - 300 km per hour for winds on Earth; yielding an effective constant hurricane-equivalent wind force. The reverse is true on Mars, where the wind moves at 200 km an hour but is so thin that it is equivalent to a gentle breeze of about 2 km on Earth.

[@HYDE_ADAM]

I've watched so many of these videos in a row (I know it's how channels survive) the most memorable thing has becomes the sponsorship. Love the content, love the presentation but if I hear something about square space one more time!! ( I'll probably build a website for no reason)

[@flyboymb]

Sounds like you could almost swim your way into Venusian orbit if you could avoid the minor hazards of melting or burning to death.

[@Omnywrench]

Fun fact: venus rotates on its axis so slowly a Venusian day is longer than a Venusian year. You could literally outrun a sunset on Venus on a bicycle.

[@psychopowner101]

Another space themed video from Simon? YES PLEASE!!

[@barriewright2857]

This just shows that we need a combined global space exploration.

[@gordonhowett7529]

Wait a minute, which one of your writers thinks Minus 8 degrees Celcius is Frigid? Chilly yes, but not frigid. In Canada that would be considered a warm winter day. XD Love your videos Simon! Always brings me something I didn't know before!

[@comet.x]

not here in Vancouver it wouldn't!

[@Vessekx]

Frigid: intensely cold I.e.: frigid water If *water* (the liquid state) can be frigid, a temperature below the freezing point of water is, by definition, frigid.

[@williamleslie4939]

12:31 - those must have been very tiny seismologists! Great video!

[@CafPhine]

очень хорошо! Love from the US. If only governments could get along with one another we would have reached the next closest star already.

[@mallninja9805]

But who cares about the next star when we can have the next iPhone?! Why spend time and resources on boring old exploration when we can develop a next gen phone or social media platform that does everything the last 2 gens did, and mines its users data even faster!!

[@Azamat421]

No moron it's impossible to travel to other stars

[@seand.g423]

Because humans spreading the bullshit that they really are even _that_ far is _such_ an _absolutely wonderful_ image... /s

[@alexanderkuhn2298]

Maybe one day we can! I still have hope for our countries uniting further in our shared interest in the stars and planets

[@Peter-Oak]

A day is coming when this story will be retold truthfully. All will receive their just reward.

[@venera13]

Good old Venera program. Also kind of spooky I also did a video on this topic a couple weeks ago.

[@chitlitlah]

It's spooky that I saw your comment on Simon's recent video on terraforming Venus, looked at your channel and watched the Venera video among a few others, and here we are.

[@venera13]

@@chitlitlah spooky ception.

[@AtomicHaircuts]

I absolutely love your videos. Please keep it up. Only one little niggle: please adjust your audio so that the letter 'S' doesn't perforate my eardrums. If this problem is caused by my own audio settings, I'd love some tips on how to fix it. Thanks.

[@7STB7]

Sssss, ssss, ssss, sss, sss...

[@Kez_DXX]

I find it amazing that we were making probes like this as early as we did, and then I remember that years earlier the Germans were sending unmanned weather stations to alien landscapes such as Labrador, Newfoundland.

[@ilghiz]

Thank you for not cancelling Soviet / Russian achievements. Russia is still full of decent people who hate the war and want peace for creativity, research and progress.

[@spencada]

Yes not like the U bloody S. Read Kill anything that moves by Nick Turse .

[@rinzo2009]

It's such a cruel irony that a planet with such a beautiful name could be so lifeless, dare I say, hot and deadly. Whereas we have already planned to visit a planet whose name is supposed to strike fear before the turn of the decade.

[@Francois424]

Well Venus is Hot, Dense, and Toxic. Depending on your luck, your hot ex-GF might have fit the bill.

[@rinzo2009]

@@Francois424 I hate it when someone beats me to the punchline.

[@namikstudios]

Not only a beautiful name, it looks beautiful here from Earth. Nothing is as stunning as seeing Venus in the pre-dawn sky, it's so incredibly big and bright that you can see the planetary disc with the naked eye. The name it was given suits how it appears from Earth. It's hard to imagine that something so beautiful from a distance is actually so hellish.

[@STON3D1_Stonks]

My wife loves your channel. I'm liking the content too. Great work

[@franky334444]

At least they didn’t send it to Uranus

[@Xailow]

Probably need a much bigger probe for that

[@87Redknight]

Or a mutch smaller one😂😂

[@Wigalot]

Ah yes, Uranus with a Venera infection 😅

[@maxwirt921]

No, that would be the venereal probe, not Venera 😂

[@RuiLuz]

Myanus is always thankful for that.

[@baronvonlimbourgh1716]

These missions where awesome. Very extreme conditions on venus.

[@johnanderson6946]

Capitalism or Communism idgaf......regardless of political ideologies there were insane brilliant and hardworking people on both sides who made these remarkable scientific achievements possible i have as much respect for the Soviet Cosmos program as NASA...wish their Moon landing program also worked imagine American astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts shaking hands on Lunar surface just like Apollo Soyuz on 1975...that wud be epic❤‍🔥❤‍🔥❤‍🔥

[@SMDoktorPepper]

This is a great example of how just going to the moon was lost, only slowly coming back due to desperation.

[@davidodonovan1699]

Thanks for another great video. Well done team

[@bredsheeran2897]

Why didn’t they just turn creative mode on

[@mattstakeontheancients7594]

Venus could be a planet for colonization at least in the cloud. Issac Arthur has a great video on colonizing it due to the cloud layer have an atmosphere, and is much warmer than Mars. Airships could traverse the upper cloud layer and not have to worry as much for the radiation that hits Mars. The surface would be a no go but the clouds would be an area worth exploring.

[@oxylepy2]

In every measurable metric, the Soviets beat the US in the Space Race, only by showing their fingers in their ears and making up a single arbitrary goal post did the US scream they won.

[@TheNoiseySpectator]

Something happened to you today, and you stepped into a parallel universe.

[@ezrapowell6309]

@@TheNoiseySpectator If you go by individual milestones, the Soviets did win the space race. It's an interesting read if your into that sort of stuff

[@TheNoiseySpectator]

@@ezrapowell6309 Oh? Individua milestones? Maybe I am biased because I was born the same year that Apollo Eleven landed on the moon, and I watched Armstrong and Aldrin walk on the moon when I was four months old. But, We _did_ get there first. 🥇 And, the Soviets had until 1993 to catch up to that accomplishment, and they never did. On the other hand, they did accomplish a few things we didn't, or "Haven't"; No American Astronaut has ever _died_ in space, they broke that barrier the first time they sent a living animal into space. Their craft was not built for little Laniakia to return alive, but her craft was supposed to burn up on _re entry,_ she wasn't supposed to die from a life support failure while in orbit. And, yes, I do have a great deal of admiration for what their Venera space probes accomplished. 😃 And, I would have to compare the dates of the Apollo One fire to the first time a Soviet Cosmonaut was killed, but I bet they beat us out for the first _human_ to be killed as part of the space program, in general. There was Sputnik, the first artificial satellite, but by the 1990s, I would bet the U.S. had more satellites in orbit than them.

[@1pcfred]

The only reason the Soviets focused on rockets was because they were hopelessly behind the USA when it came to strategic bombers. The US didn't need rockets. But once the Soviets launched Sputnik we decided to get in that game too. In a decade we'd totally surpassed what it took the Soviets decades to develop.

[@1pcfred]

@@ezrapowell6309 the Soviets started the Space Race and had a huge lead before they showed their hand. Although the US did develop liquid propulsion. We just never pursued it like the Nazis and Soviets did.

[@Dragonblaster1]

If you were transported to the surface of Venus, you wouldn't live long enough to know what had killed you.

[@yssyaviation781]

Yay I’ve been waiting for this!

[@zehman11]

That last line was fantastic comic relief.