Why Russia Never Went Back to Planet Venus

In 1960, when the entire world had its eyes fixed on America’s Apollo missions, something terrifying was happening on our neighboring planet, Venus. The Soviet Union—today’s Russia—was secretly planning what could only be called suicide missions to Venus. After spending billions of dollars and years of effort, they built probes designed to do something unprecedented: land on another planet and capture its images.

But what these Russian probes encountered on Venus was nothing short of hell. The extreme conditions shocked even Soviet scientists. Today, we’ll explore those dangerous Venus missions that revealed the planet’s terrifying secrets—and how something as small as a camera lens cap ruined years of work and millions of dollars. What was so horrifying about Venus that, despite today’s advanced technology, Russia never returned?

Welcome once again.

During the 1960s and 70s, the Cold War was at its peak. The United States and the Soviet Union were competing to become the king of space. America focused its efforts on the Moon. President John F. Kennedy had boldly promised that before 1970, the U.S. would land a man on the Moon—a massive claim at the time.

When the Soviets realized America might actually succeed, they shifted their focus to Venus. Their goal was clear: if America could reach the Moon, Russia would step onto hell itself.

At the time, scientists believed Venus and Earth were very similar. They are neighbors, nearly the same size, and located at comparable distances from the Sun. However, Venus was completely covered in thick clouds, hiding its surface. No one knew what lay beneath those clouds. It was a mystery box—even for scientists.

The Soviets planned not one or two, but 18 missions to Venus. They named their probes “Venera,” which means Venus in Russian. Since scientists believed Venus had an atmosphere, they designed the probes to withstand high atmospheric pressure—though no one knew exactly how extreme it would be.

The Soviets kept missions secret unless they succeeded. Failures were hidden from the public.

On February 4, 1961, they launched their first probe toward Venus—but it failed to escape Earth’s orbit. The world was never told.

They later launched Venera 1 on February 12, 1961—the first probe ever sent toward another planet. But just seven days after launch, communication was lost. It passed Venus at a distance of 100,000 kilometers but sent back no data.

Many early attempts failed. Some were so unsuccessful they were never even given the Venera name. These are now known as “ghost missions.”

In 1966 came Venera 3 and 4. These were heavier, about one ton each, and designed with two parts: a bus that carried the probe to Venus, and a spherical lander with sensors, including a pressure sensor, gas analyzer, thermometer, batteries, and antennas.

Venera 3 became the first man-made object to hit the surface of another planet on March 1, 1966—but it crashed and sent no data.

In 1967, Venera 4 finally provided some success. It confirmed that Venus’s atmosphere was mostly carbon dioxide. However, it was later discovered that the probe was crushed by the immense pressure before reaching the surface—like a soda can.

Realizing how brutal Venus was, the Soviets continued improving their probes. Venera 7, built like a tank, was designed simply to survive. During landing, its parachute tore, and it hit the surface at 17 meters per second. It landed upside down, with its antenna facing the ground.

Yet against all odds, it transmitted signals for 23 minutes—the first successful transmission from another planet’s surface. It recorded a temperature of 465°C (869°F)—hotter than an oven. Scientists also detected hurricane-force winds of 360 km/h (224 mph) using Doppler shift calculations.