OTD In Space – July 22: Venera 8 Makes First Soft Landing On Venus
On July 22, 1972, a spacecraft landed on Venus! The Soviet space probe Venera 8 was the second spacecraft to successfully execute a soft landing on the planet's surface.
Venera 8 spent 117 days traveling to Venus and only survived for 50 minutes before the planet's harsh atmosphere got the best of its hardware. But it did manage to accomplish plenty of science before dying in Venus. During its descent, it collected and transmitted data about Venus's thick and toxic atmosphere. This data helped scientists learn that Venus's clouds hover at a very high altitude, and that the atmosphere is actually a lot clearer close to the surface.
Venera 8 spent 117 days traveling to Venus and only survived for 50 minutes before the planet's harsh atmosphere got the best of its hardware. But it did manage to accomplish plenty of science before dying in Venus. During its descent, it collected and transmitted data about Venus's thick and toxic atmosphere. This data helped scientists learn that Venus's clouds hover at a very high altitude, and that the atmosphere is actually a lot clearer close to the surface.
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TechTranscript
00:00On this day in space.
00:04In 1972, a spacecraft landed on Venus. The Soviet space probe
00:08Venera 8 was the second spacecraft to successfully execute a soft landing on the
00:12planet's surface. Venera 8 spent 117 days traveling to Venus
00:16and only survived for 50 minutes before the planet's harsh atmosphere got the best of its
00:20hardware. But it did manage to accomplish plenty of science before dying on Venus.
00:24During its descent, it collected and transmitted data about Venus's thick
00:28and toxic atmosphere. This data helped scientists learn that Venus's clouds
00:32hover at a very high altitude and that the atmosphere is actually a lot clearer close to the
00:36surface. And that's what happened on this day in space.
00:40Music
00:44Music