The Soviet Obsession With Venus Revealed 

"Venera 13 carried a microphone. So we can listen to the sounds of Venus..." Me: 👂 "Venera 14..."

They probably just told us its too hot, meanwhile they have a whole planet to themselves

The Soviet Venera probes were amazing.

It is not obsession but perseverance.

"Apple updates ALONE would make that impossible..." Truer words have never been spoken.

Столько слов про политику ,но ни слова про институт и коллектив, ведущий тогда программу освоения венеры. Разработкой занималось ОКБ им. С.А. Лавочкина, которое в то время возглавлял Георгий Николаевич Бабакин.Само предприятие, научный задел и сами аппараты сохранились, можно продолжить их исследования. Но их не запустят пока не дооснастят приборами для получения новых данных, а не повторения старых.

When i was working as a mechanic, one of my customers was an engineer who had done lots of development on the computers they put in cars. Its a very tough environment for a computer, extremes of hot and cold, corrosive chemicals, vibration etc. So they use carbide chips if my memory is working, instead of silicon chips, like in your desktop. They are much tougher than silicon chips, and deal with extreme heat better, which is key for being able to "pot" them in a lump of epoxy resin, to keep bad chemicals and vibrations away. Its really hard to seal up a computer with a big cooling fan vent. The russians had to use carbide chips for their venus probes, and i remember our customer, the engineer, was blown away by how short the lifespan was for a computer on venus, minutes or hours. Cant remember. This is with cutting edge version and big old budget version of car computer technology that lasts decades in a car.

You have to hand it to the soviet scientists, they didn't give up even when the Intel they had meant that their probe would melt under the brutal conditions of Venus.

It's not uncommon for households in the former Soviet Union or Eastern Bloc to still have working machines or household appliances from the Soviet era that are in working condition. In Eastern Europe, we have the saying, “built like a Soviet tank” to refer to these almost indestructible pieces of engineering.

I love how the Soviets didn't give up easily.

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="887">14:47</a> This is actually incorrect. Venera 14 was not the last probe to land on Venus, Vega 1 and Vega 2 missions both had not only balloon probes but landers as well. These balloons and landers were deployed during a flyby of Venus before the main spacecrafts departed for the Halley's comet. Both landers looked similar to the last Venera probes, they were successful and landed on Venus on June 11th and 15th 1985 respectively, more than three years after Venera 14.

The trippiest thing about the density of the atmosphere is that it increases gradually. If you were to descend towards the surface of Venus, you'd transition from flying through air to swimming through water without even noticing it.

I think Venera 13 and 14 go down as two of the greatest space missions, still.

I lived on Venera street in Fort Worth for a couple of years. 3708 Venera street. I planted that tree. She’s a beauty.

You forgot to mention the lens cap issue. When the lens cap dropped to the ground it only rolled a foot away from the probe. When the robotic arm extended it landed on top of the lens cap. So the only readings they could collected was from something they brought from earth.

I'm still in team venus cloud city before mars colony. Pros: 1. It's a fucking cloud city 2. It's warm 3. No Toxic dust Con: 1. Acid clouds 2. you can fall down 3. A bit windy

I like the idea that a group of Soviet engineers simply got obsessed with Venus and their political superiors just let them have at it. Like the "I just wanted to see what happens" meme! Also, if you are taking suggestions, I find the idea of a clockwork probe instead of an electronic one really fascinating and you seem like just the guy to do a video on it. Here's to hoping! Cheers!

You should probably change the name from the space race to the space crawl. Since we are about 40 plus years behind schedule at this point.

Super video! Thank you very much. The only thing that could have been said is that Venus, unlike Mars, is about the same size as the Earth and the orbit of Venus is easier to reach than that of Mars. The SF novel "Planet of Death" by the famous Stanislaw Lem from 1951 had a great influence in the Soviet Union. In it, cosmonauts (as astronauts are called there) discover the remains of a civilization that had wiped itself out with nuclear weapons. The film adaptation called "The Silent Star" 1960 was very popular. And so elaborately made that film material was bought by Hollywood producers, who even used it for two cinema films. In any case, there was the idea that Venus, which is in many ways more Earth-like than Mars, was much more likely to have life like our planet. Unfortunately, the Wikipedia article about the massive change in the view of Venus due to the Soviet Venus missions has disappeared. It clearly showed how much people believed in life there before and no longer afterwards. Now there is a Venus in fiction, but unfortunately the many SF novels in the Eastern Bloc (USSR and the socialist countrys around) hardly feature in it. I noticed the whole thing because I've always been a Venus fan and an SF reader. And there was a discussion a while ago when an old climate scientist said that we are in danger of becoming like Venus. Only to say that, we'd have to know a lot more about Venus and what we know doesn't scientifically allow such a statement. Incidentally, Fraiser Cain from Universe today interviewed one of the leading Venus researchers a year ago. The video is called: "I'm obsessed with Venus now". Super Interview! The balloons of the Soviets in the Venus atmosphere are a super cool topic. It would certainly be a great topic for a video. They were the first flying machines on another planet. Long before the super helicopter drone flew on Mars. Space race, you know ?😊 Thanks for your great videos. I always enjoy watching them! 😊

All these Venusian photos were rectified to actual wide-field landscapes some 20 years ago.

Most people seem to ignore the fact that one day on Venus is longer than a year. That's the biggest and most crucial difference with mother Earth. We will never have such an extreme case of runaway greenhouse effect here.

Other probes actually have landed on the surface of Venus since Venera. Each of those balloon missions, Vega 1 and Vega 2, were also packaged alongside a flyby probe that would go on to visit Halley's Comet and a lander. Vega 1's lander instruments activated early, but both landers survived their descents. The Pioneer Venus Multiprobe also unintentionally landed an atmospheric probe, the Day probe, on the surface of Venus; this remains NASA's only successful landing on Venus.

I was expecting a sound bite of the sound of Venus from the venera probe from this video... never came very disappointed

Those old Soviet engineers were crazy good! Similar to the German scientists, during the WW2. Just shows you, it doesn't matter were you are politically. Talent is talent.

"Revealed" might be a little overstated, seeing this has hardly ever been a secret

Our technology today isn't built to last because we live in (the illusion of) abundance of ressources. There's big money in selling things to people that break all the times like iPhones, that's why you couldn't sent one to space. And then selling them a new one two years later. The shortage of materials like it occured in the eastern side of the iron curtain produced an amazing spirit of craftmanship, so many people learnt to build something from almost nothing and building things to last because you couldn't just order something new and have it delivered a week later, you often had to wait for years for replacement parts of machinery and things like that. That's how this philosophy of sturdy building emerged. I was born in the GDR, haven't personally experienced much of it but the aftermath and the spirit of the people that influenced me still rings through till today. Now I'm an engineer and I am amazed of what my parents and grandparents generation used to accomplish with the little means they had in all branches of life. I try to keep that spirit alive and I believe this is what the whole world needs to be doing but even better with the modern means of production we have today: build all sorts of things that are tough, modular, as easily repairable as possible and recycleable. Not the cheap throwaway junk we have today in consumer electronics, tools etc.

Excellent video, one of your best IMO.

This video was well documented appreciate the hard work

There has never been a photograph from Venus on "film", all digital.

This guy is good..👍 The VENERA probe is the pinnacle of the USSR space program, period..

Great video with a plethora of information, that's just so interesting, thank you 😍

Good feature. Nice whimsy in the presentation - gave it a pleasant, homely feel.

Venera 9 filmed a venusian slug moving through 3 or 5 frames. They wrote it off as the wind current.

=> The balloons of the Soviets in the Venus atmosphere are a super cool topic. It would certainly be a great topic for a video. They were the first flying devices on another planet. Long before the super helicopter drone flew on Mars. Space race, you know ?😊 Thanks for your great videos. I always enjoy watching them! 😊 (Just to be on the safe side this extra also. Because I also edited the other comment and don't know if you only get the first version as a content creator.)

Wow, I had no idea about any of these trips to Venus. Love the pictures! Got to give those Soviet engineers high marks. Thanks! 🚀

Excellent vid…❤ I really enjoyed your delivery style and you made it super interesting in every way ..👍👍👍

Thank you for providing F & C temps, plz keep giving both metric and imperial measurements, thx.

Modern computers aren’t made to last anymore, because companies have shifted from designing computers for business and institutions to that of regular consumer demand. This shift occurred sometime in the late 80’s with the advent of the PC computers. Also, with the increase in software storage capacity came the lazy solution model. It used to be that when you design a computer you made sure every single part was designed perfectly because otherwise your software could not run correctly, but with increased computer software capacity many modern computers are simply designed to rely on self correcting software tools in cases where hardware is faulty. These two factors have contributed to a model of computer design the last 30 years which is incredibly unreliable compared to its predecessors. Which inversely were also much simpler designs that used far more logic to solve their unique problems. To solve this dilemma its clear that a revolution in the world of atoms is required. New hardware and material designs have to be produced in the next couple decades that push the boundaries of reliable design.

What a fantastic educating story, well told...!

I've been obsessed with Venus since I've watched the footage of the lander many many times I'm so excited to watch this and see what new info you found

What a fantastic story, well told.

Excellent! I have known about the truly amazing Soviet 'Venera' program for many years but not in such detail. I had no idea they just 'lobbed' the later ones into the 'thick' atmosphere with a few bits 'sticking out' to slow them down. Thanks a lot.

Watched a video a few weeks ago about building inhabited airships for the upper atmosphere of Venus. Warmer temperatures, an actual atmosphere, and less radiation than would be on Mars. Pretty interesting video.

Well done. Just finding your channel. New Sub!

Great video. Just got yourself another subscriber:)

I almost thought this was another Simon Whistler channel

Well put together.

This is fascinating! Thank you for this

It's only one of the greatest scientific accomplishments of all time.

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="610">10:10</a> "The Soviet Union Just didn't believe in quitting, I mean until they literally quit being a Union" 😅

Either they were very lucky with their landings, or they were able to figure out the best places to land their probes, which, the last few of them stayed upright on flat surfaces. What if they'd landed on the slope of a hill, for example? So, there was probably more to them just shooting the probes at Venus than is being described in this video.

Informative video,thanks for posting,was disappointed when you mentioned the microphone heard "spooky" noises but you failed to put the sound up which would have been very interesting to listen too.

Soviet innovation is so inspiring!

“Observation: you couldn’t see a thing. Conclusion: dinosaurs.” -Sagan

Thank you for that. Thank you for telling us all about the sounds of Venus and getting us all excited and wanting to hear them and not actually including those sounds. thank you for that.

The final message is something I've been pondering a lot with regards to every day technology on earth, but I can see how it especially applies to space.

Making mistakes in an aggressive way is the Soviet mantra

We should put up a huge solar shade in a lagrange point around venus and watch it cool down. We would learn a lot about terraforming and we could control how much sunlight venus gets so we could make it the perfect temperature.

What no one talked about was every astronaut returned with a case of VD from Venus's Uranus.

Velikovsky had determined that Venus was an extremely hot planet long before instruments and space probes were available to confirm it. Refer to Worlds in Collision for the details. Thanks for this video. I wasn't aware of the USSR's Venus project.

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="784">13:04</a>: Nice documentary about the exploration of Venus. But you say that Venera 13 was sent in 1981, but the image is of Venera 8.

The oppressive atmosphere reminds them of home.

Very thoughtfully done, thank you!!

Your content is very good!

I love it, the soundtrack of Venus wind is still on youtube btw

While interesting to those who have never seen any videos about Russians probes to Venus, this is all old material shown many times by other channels.

Good Job… Great documentary 👍🏼

cool new details about the designs, new sub !

Make this top comment for no reason mate :D

"We can't see a thing....There must be dinosaurs." -Carl Sagan

this is what got me into soviet space exploration history, getting pictures of the venus' surface so long ago is pretty crazy

Narator:"Soviet failed mission to Venus" Logic:"Eeeeeeeeh.....?."

Love the "hat trick" joke! Nice informative video!

But how they got the film back?

Fun fact: The Russians actually focused so much on Venus, because it's much closer to Russia compared to any other countries!

The designs are absolutely marvelous

fantastic video and a wise message in the end. 👏👏👏

Nice illustrative video 🎉❤

It'll never cease being amazing, that so much was accomplished despite the scrutiny and mismanagement of the State. Brilliant minds 👍

Nothing wrong with fascination of Venus. Just because it's too hot doesn't mean we can't find uses for it.

Great video. Thank you

would be crazy to see a story about how the Venusuelans got here with the technology they had at the time

Nice work I enjoyed this

I like how they use wave tactics but with probes. It’s charming imo. And I’m glad they did it

I applaud you. You took this video longer on the truth than any other science video I've watched. I didn't detect misinformation until <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="250">4:10</a>.

The early Venera probes may have been dead on arrival but just arriving alone is a remarkable achievement. Like the Indian moon shot, definitely not a failure.

I love the fact that all these space missions, no matter who, only show a real photo on earth, and then drawings or computer animation in space. Where is the GoPro from earth to space to landing and back video?

Great video...👍

I love this video! fascinating

Very good. Very informative. One minor correction: @ <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="782">13:02</a> you narrate Venera 13 but your title card states Venera 8.

Thank you for the video

Venera missions are some of the most impressive feats of humanity.

Great presentation!

I just found this channel, and I have a lot to say about it, but I’ll settle on this, … This channel is extremely interesting and I love it. And i’m now a subscriber! Also, the narrator is Tucker Carlson, which is cool lol. Side note: Venera 7’s parachute deployed on my birthday, August 17! … Well before I was born tho

The U.S. decided it was not possible to keep a lander cool enough to work on venus. The Russian lander got around this with a very simple system. They had radiator devices that were filled with excess rocket fuel. The devices were deployed enroute to super cool the fuel from the coldness of space. The fuel was pumped through the lander to cool it upon landing.

Excellent job.

I was hoping for the ground probe landing on the lens cap on Venera 14 instead of the ground. Hilarious.

Beautifully narrated. And very intelligent, compared to the usual beain dead level these days. Seriously enjoyed. 👍

Excellent video

Enjoyed the video! Your voice cadence is remarkably similar to Nile Red.