The First Photos On Venus’ Surface

[00:00:00]It took 13 missions to get the only color photographs of the surface [music] of Venus. They were taken by this lander that was only supposed to last 30 minutes, but somehow lasted 2 hours, which is incredible because of Venus is really not a good time. It's basically hell. There are clouds of sulfuric acid, surface pressure is 93 times that of Earth, temperatures hot enough to melt lead. The average moon lighter from that time would be crushed in an instant. So, Soviet engineers tinkered for 30 years sending probes that failed over and over again. [music] Starting with two flyby missions. The first never made it out of Earth's orbit. The second overheated somewhere along the way. Mission three crashed into the planet. Missions four, five, six successfully sampled the atmosphere, but then got crushed like soda cans before reaching the ground.

[00:00:44]Mission seven's parachute tore and then it smashed into the planet, but it managed to send [music] back the first data from the surface showing us that Venus, not a great vacation spot.

[00:00:52]Mission eight didn't crash and confirmed that data. And then they got even craftier. So, they put all of the electronics in an airtight insulated container sealed with titanium, which is one of the very few metals that wouldn't get crushed or warped on the surface immediately. [music] They even pre-cooled the inside to give it a little bit more time before overheating.

[00:01:09]And they set up cameras behind windows made of solid quartz, which is heat and pressure resistant up to a point, but still transparent enough to see through.

[00:01:15]And it worked. Missions nine and 10 sent back the first ever black and white photographs of the surface. So, then they did it again, but this time the lens cap didn't pop off. So, they made one final adjustment and sent two more missions and we finally got the first ever color photographs of Venus. And sound. But now there's a plan to go back to see it. Subscribe.