OTD In Space – June 12: Venera 4 Launches On Mission To Venus
On June 12, 1967, Venera 4 was launched into space on a mission to Venus, thus becoming the first spacecraft to transmit data from another planet's atmosphere.
This was a Russian probe designed to study the atmosphere of Venus down to the surface. At first, scientists believed that the probe had transmitted until contact with the surface of Venus. But transmissions had ended at an altitude of 16 miles (or 27 kilometers), when the extreme temperatures and high atmospheric pressure crushed the probe.
But from the data collected by Venera 4, we learned that the Venus' surface temperatures were 500 degrees Celsius and the pressure was 75 times more than Earth's. It also found that Venus' atmosphere was composed of 90 to 95 percent carbon dioxide with no nitrogen.
This was a Russian probe designed to study the atmosphere of Venus down to the surface. At first, scientists believed that the probe had transmitted until contact with the surface of Venus. But transmissions had ended at an altitude of 16 miles (or 27 kilometers), when the extreme temperatures and high atmospheric pressure crushed the probe.
But from the data collected by Venera 4, we learned that the Venus' surface temperatures were 500 degrees Celsius and the pressure was 75 times more than Earth's. It also found that Venus' atmosphere was composed of 90 to 95 percent carbon dioxide with no nitrogen.
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TechTranscript
00:00On this day in space.
00:03In 1967, Venera 4 was launched into space on a mission to Venus,
00:08thus becoming the first spacecraft to transmit data from another planet's atmosphere.
00:12This was a Russian probe designed to study the atmosphere of Venus down to the surface.
00:16At first, scientists believed that the probe transmitted data until contact with the surface of Venus,
00:21but in actuality, transmissions ended at an altitude of 16 miles, or 27 kilometers,
00:26when the extreme temperatures and high atmospheric pressure crushed the probe.
00:30But from the data collected by Venera 4, we learned that the surface temperatures were 500 degrees Celsius,
00:36and the pressure was 75 times more than that of Earth.
00:39It also found that Venus' atmosphere was composed of 90 to 95 percent carbon dioxide with no nitrogen.
00:45And that's what happened on this day in space.
00:48NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology