Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

All posts tagged "Soviet Union"

Soviet Probe Crashing on Venus Soviet Probe Crashing on Venus

Uncategorized

In December 1978 the Soviet Union dropped two probes into the clouds of Venus carrying an instrument named “Thunderstorm,” built to find out whether the planet had lightning — and nearly 50 years later, the data those landers radioed back is still the best evidence anyone has, because every spacecraft sent since has failed to settle whether Venus storms at all.

When the Soviet Union sent two probes plunging into the atmosphere of Venus in December 1978, they carried an instrument named "Groza," the Russian...

13 hours ago
Venus USSR Probe Venus USSR Probe

Uncategorized

The Soviet Union launched nearly 30 spacecraft at Venus and became the only nation ever to land on its surface and send back pictures — color photographs of a scorched volcanic plain under a yellow-green sky, shot in the few dozen minutes before the heat and pressure destroyed every probe that took them.

Exploring Venus is extremely challenging. A landing probe or lander must withstand crushing pressure, with atmospheric pressure roughly 90 times Earth’s, equivalent to being...

1 day ago
Soviet Union Buran Space Shuttle Soviet Union Buran Space Shuttle

Smart Bombs: Military, Defense and National Security

In November 1988 the Soviet Union flew its own space shuttle, Buran, into orbit and landed it completely on autopilot with no crew aboard — something NASA’s shuttle never did — and then flew it exactly once, because within three years the country that built it no longer existed.

In November 1988 the Soviet Union flew its own space shuttle. Buran reached orbit, circled the Earth twice, and landed itself completely on autopilot,...

2 days ago
Soviet Union Space Probe for Venus Soviet Union Space Probe for Venus

Uncategorized

In June 1985 the Soviet Union flew two balloons through the sulfuric-acid clouds of Venus, riding 150-mph winds a third of the way around the planet — the only aircraft ever flown in another world’s atmosphere until a helicopter lifted off on Mars 36 years later, and the “Soviet” triumph was secretly French-built and tracked by American dishes.

In June 1985 the Soviet Union did something that still sounds impossible: it flew two balloons through the clouds of another planet. Released into...

3 days ago

Trending