Today in the history of astronomy, the Soviets accomplish the first transmission from another planet’s surface.
This Russian stamp from 1972 celebrates the successes of the Venera 7 mission. Credit: USSR Post, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- On December 15, 1970, the Soviet Venera 7 probe accomplished the first soft landing by a spacecraft on another planet, specifically Venus.
- Equipped with sensors for temperature, pressure, and atmospheric density, the probe transmitted data during its descent, confirming 97% carbon dioxide in the Venusian atmosphere.
- Despite a mid-descent parachute failure leading to a freefall impact, Venera 7 subsequently returned 23 minutes of weak transmissions from the Venusian surface, contributing to a total of 53 minutes of signal.
- The mission’s transmissions confirmed surface heat and pressure characteristics, reinforcing the understanding of Venus’s inhospitable environment, and marked the first direct data transmission from another planetary surface.
On Dec. 15, 1970, the Soviet Venera 7 probe became the first spacecraft to soft land on another planet when it set down on the surface of Venus. Equipped with temperature and pressure gauges and tools to measure atmospheric density, Venera 7 had been painstakingly designed to withstand the extremes of Venus. The spacecraft entered the venusian atmosphere and its parachute opened; data on the abundance of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere (97%) was returned to Earth.
Unfortunately, the parachute failed mid-descent, and the spacecraft hit the planet’s surface at a freefall. Although the probe bounced onto its side and seemed to have gone quiet, later review revealed 23 minutes of weak transmissions from the surface. Combined with the descent transmission, 53 minutes of signals were sent back to Earth – enough to confirm characteristics of the surface like the heat and pressure, to reinforce the understanding that Venus would be inhospitable to humans, and to make Venera 7 the first craft to transmit from another planet.
