Expedition to the Underworld: how Soviet technology got to Venus

On October 22, 1975, the Venera-9 interplanetary station made a soft landing on the planet of the same name in the Solar System for the first time in history. Soviet space explorers managed to shake the world by bringing science fiction closer to reality. Izvestia recalled how it was.

Happy planet

In 1967, the Venera-4 spacecraft penetrated the atmosphere of Venus, transmitting data on its composition to Earth. Thanks to this flight, humanity learned that the air on Venus is dry and consists mainly of carbon dioxide. "Venus-4" also brought sad news: the weather on Venus is deadly hot — 276 degrees Celsius. A real hell!

Venera-4 Automatic Interplanetary Station

Photo: RIA Novosti/Alexander Mokletsov

No one expected to meet brothers in mind there anymore, but everyone understood that exploring Venus could be a breakthrough for science and technology. The designer Oleg Ivanovsky wrote: "Venus forced cosmonautics to explore areas of science and technology that were not typical of it, to invent new testing methods, new materials, and new designs. I had to get acquainted with the effects of such overloads upon entry into the atmosphere of the planet, which were not even dreamed of in fiction: 400-450 units."

A double expedition

During the preparation of the ninth flight to Venus, the experience of previous expeditions was critically examined and rethought. They conceived a double flight: two stations, Venera—9 and Venera-10, were supposed to "dock" to a distant planet almost simultaneously. The "ten" secured the "nine", increasing the probability of a successful flight. Scientists from several scientific institutes worked on this project, but the parent company was NPO im. Lavochkin, led by Georgy Babakin. The engineers managed to implement an original solution that protected the chambers located at the stations from radically high temperatures.

Among the scientific equipment equipped with both interplanetary stations is a panoramic telephotometer for studying optical properties and obtaining images of the surface at the landing site in automatic mode, and a spectrometer for measuring the chemical composition of the atmosphere. There was also an on-board tape recorder for storing and transmitting 16 megabytes of information to Earth. At that time, it was a fantastic technique.

The retransmission of radio signals to Earth was provided by a powerful antenna. It was the first time such a difficult task had to be solved in deep space. For reliability, two VHF radio transmitters were installed on the lander, operating at different frequencies in order to duplicate information on two channels. The lander transmitted data to the orbiter at a previously unimaginable rate of 256 bits per second.

The main task of the lander was to shoot a circular panorama of the planet's surface with two television cameras. The technical solutions were new, but no one could guarantee success. Both stations were five times heavier than their predecessors, mainly due to scientific equipment and fuel. After all, their tasks were unprecedented: to study the atmosphere of Venus and capture the planet on camera. The launch mass of the Venera-9 is 4936 kg, the Venera-10 is 5033 kg.

They took off safely from the Baikonur cosmodrome, from launch pad number 81. Venus-9 set off on June 8, Venus-9 — 14- th. There was a long road ahead. During the 136 days and nights of flight, the interplanetary station covered more than 300 million km.

Venera-10 reached orbit on October 25. The station kept in touch with earth for an incredibly long time, given the Venusian conditions — 65 minutes. Two days before reaching the planet, the lander separated from the spacecraft. On October 22, the decisive time came — the conquest of Venus. The descent of the Venera-9 lander, first on parachutes and then on a specially designed braking screen, lasted more than an hour. The Earth immediately began receiving information from Venus in transit through the orbital station. For 53 minutes, scientific measurements and images from Venus-9 were sent to Earth. The telephotometer system transmitted images reliably. For the first time in history, researchers have obtained images from the surface of another planet in the Solar system.

The mission control center conducted nine communication sessions with the station. From Earth, scientists monitored the condition of on-board systems, measured the parameters of the trajectory, and conducted scientific studies of the physical processes taking place in outer space. The station's flight path was corrected twice.

The orbiters of the stations became the first artificial satellites of Venus in history. Venera-9 was designed to operate in orbit for three months, but lasted longer — until April 1976. The satellites transmitted data on the atmosphere and cosmic radiation to Earth and served as repeaters of signals from the surface.

The images turned out to be surprisingly clear, and the earthlings got a clear idea of the panoramas of a distant planet. It turned out that Venus has almost terrestrial, bright lighting and a rocky landscape. The stations landed at different points of the planet, and it became clear that the surface of Venus is not uniform. In the images taken by the Venera-9 station, many sharp-shaped stones could be seen, and Venera-10 captured formations that were characterized as fragments of solidified lava. Scientists have discovered areas with both mountainous and flat terrain on a distant planet. The horizon was perfectly visible, no traces of dust were observed.

And the stations operating on Venus in October 1975 brought invaluable information about the Venusian climate and the spectra of the planet's night glow to Earth. For the first time, thunderstorms and lightning flashes were detected in the cloud layer on Venus. But the thunderstorm drops did not reach the surface of the planet, quickly evaporating due to the high temperature. A hypothesis has emerged that Venus once had an ocean that dried up as a result of an environmental disaster. Studies of the processes related to the interaction of the solar wind with the surface of Venus were also of great importance.

Everything is ahead

The Soviet exploration of Venus entered the history of cosmonautics as a bright chapter. They have enriched astronomy, physics, and cosmonautics with knowledge, laying the foundations for future flights. Almost all the information about Venus that modern science has is related to Soviet research projects. The analysis of the material obtained in 1975 continues in our time.

The success of the Venusian space stations has shown that modern technologies can effectively serve science in the not distant future, without delay. A new rocket, new instruments, honed space automation — everything worked for a result that inspired the researchers. They were already preparing for more impressive achievements. A happy planet for Russian researchers, Venus, was waiting for new guests. The breakthrough of 1975 gave a strong impetus to new expeditions.

50 years ago, all the newspapers in the world wrote about the triumph of the Soviet space exploration program. The romantics of science, of course, dreamed of a manned flight to Venus. About the time when a human foot set foot on the red-hot rocks of this planet. Of course, for this, human protection technologies in the heavy Venusian atmosphere must move far ahead. Academician Sergei Korolev said, "A man who believes in a fairy tale gets into it one day because he has a heart." All great achievements begin with a dream. She still elevates us today.

The author is the deputy editor—in-chief of the magazine "Historian"