Why Russia Never Went Back to Planet Venus

In 1960, when the entire world had its eyes fixed on America’s Apollo missions, something terrifying was happening on our neighboring planet, Venus. The Soviet Union—today’s Russia—was secretly planning what could only be called suicide missions to Venus. After spending billions of dollars and years of effort, they built probes designed to do something unprecedented: land on another planet and capture its images.

But what these Russian probes encountered on Venus was nothing short of hell. The extreme conditions shocked even Soviet scientists. Today, we’ll explore those dangerous Venus missions that revealed the planet’s terrifying secrets—and how something as small as a camera lens cap ruined years of work and millions of dollars. What was so horrifying about Venus that, despite today’s advanced technology, Russia never returned?

Welcome once again.

During the 1960s and 70s, the Cold War was at its peak. The United States and the Soviet Union were competing to become the king of space. America focused its efforts on the Moon. President John F. Kennedy had boldly promised that before 1970, the U.S. would land a man on the Moon—a massive claim at the time.

When the Soviets realized America might actually succeed, they shifted their focus to Venus. Their goal was clear: if America could reach the Moon, Russia would step onto hell itself.

At the time, scientists believed Venus and Earth were very similar. They are neighbors, nearly the same size, and located at comparable distances from the Sun. However, Venus was completely covered in thick clouds, hiding its surface. No one knew what lay beneath those clouds. It was a mystery box—even for scientists.

The Soviets planned not one or two, but 18 missions to Venus. They named their probes “Venera,” which means Venus in Russian. Since scientists believed Venus had an atmosphere, they designed the probes to withstand high atmospheric pressure—though no one knew exactly how extreme it would be.

The Soviets kept missions secret unless they succeeded. Failures were hidden from the public.

On February 4, 1961, they launched their first probe toward Venus—but it failed to escape Earth’s orbit. The world was never told.

They later launched Venera 1 on February 12, 1961—the first probe ever sent toward another planet. But just seven days after launch, communication was lost. It passed Venus at a distance of 100,000 kilometers but sent back no data.

Many early attempts failed. Some were so unsuccessful they were never even given the Venera name. These are now known as “ghost missions.”

In 1966 came Venera 3 and 4. These were heavier, about one ton each, and designed with two parts: a bus that carried the probe to Venus, and a spherical lander with sensors, including a pressure sensor, gas analyzer, thermometer, batteries, and antennas.

Venera 3 became the first man-made object to hit the surface of another planet on March 1, 1966—but it crashed and sent no data.

In 1967, Venera 4 finally provided some success. It confirmed that Venus’s atmosphere was mostly carbon dioxide. However, it was later discovered that the probe was crushed by the immense pressure before reaching the surface—like a soda can.

Realizing how brutal Venus was, the Soviets continued improving their probes. Venera 7, built like a tank, was designed simply to survive. During landing, its parachute tore, and it hit the surface at 17 meters per second. It landed upside down, with its antenna facing the ground.

Yet against all odds, it transmitted signals for 23 minutes—the first successful transmission from another planet’s surface. It recorded a temperature of 465°C (869°F)—hotter than an oven. Scientists also detected hurricane-force winds of 360 km/h (224 mph) using Doppler shift calculations.

Venera 8 survived for 60 minutes on the surface. It confirmed there was enough light to see through the thick clouds.

Then came Venera 9 to 12, the most ambitious missions yet. These 5-ton probes were designed like UFO-shaped landers with shock absorbers and protective insulation. Most importantly, they carried cameras.

But disaster struck. The lens caps failed to open on most cameras. Venera 9, on October 2, 1975, managed to open one lens and sent back the first image ever taken from another planet’s surface. The world saw a rocky, hostile landscape covered in sharp stones.

Venera 13 and 14 were the golden era missions. They carried microphones, drills, seismometers, and cameras. Venera 13 recorded the sound of Venus’s winds and thunder—the first audio ever captured from another planet. It also sent the first color images, revealing an orange sky and brownish ground.

However, Venera 14 made a strange mistake. It had a soil-testing arm meant to measure ground hardness. But the probe’s camera lens cap accidentally fell exactly where the arm was supposed to land. Instead of measuring Venus’s soil, it measured the hardness of its own lens cap—wasting a critical experiment.

Finally, Venera 15 and 16 changed strategy. Instead of landing, they orbited Venus for eight months using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) to map the surface through thick clouds. They discovered mountains 88 kilometers wide and vast cracks stretching thousands of kilometers.

Thanks to these Soviet missions, we now know Venus is a hellish world:

Surface temperature: 465°C

Atmospheric pressure: 90 times that of Earth

Atmosphere filled with carbon dioxide

Clouds made of sulfuric acid

Constant violent storms

Rocky, razor-sharp terrain

Although America called the Venera missions experimental failures, they revealed the true nature of Venus. So many Soviet missions were sent that some people even refer to Venus as the “Soviet planet,” and many surface features bear Russian names.

One final question: If Venus’s clouds are made of sulfuric acid, why doesn’t acid rain reach the surface?

That’s something to think about.