In 1969, the United States sent astronauts on the Moon and had them placed the American flag as a sign that they were the first ones to land on the Moon. A move was justified, especially during that time when the U.S. was in the middle of the space race with the USSR. However, it was not a sign to reclaim the entire Moon but was only a symbolic move.
Recently, scientists have found evidence of biosignature in the atmosphere of Venus, which may indicate the presence of life in some form on the planet. Shortly after, Russia's space chief claims that Venus is a 'Russian planet' because it has been sending probes on the planet.
"Russian Planet"
"Russian Planet"
Since 1970, Russia has been landing probes on Venus and has been planning for a new mission to continue exploring the planet.
The new mission is still in its planning stage and is likely to be conducted with NASA. However, Dmitry Rogozin, Roscosmos' boss, said that they are also planning a separate Venus mission that is likely to be conducted without any help from any country.
Rogozin said that the exploration of Venus is now one of their agenda. They are currently preparing the Venera-D project in cooperation with NASA, but they are also considering their own mission.
"We think that Venus is a Russian planet, so we shouldn't lag behind," Rogozin said. The exploration of Venus is part of the space missions by the Russians for 2021-2030, included in the united government program.
The Russian state-owned news agency TASS reported that Lev Zeleny of the Russian Space Research Institute said that Russia is already planning at least three research vehicles sent to Venus. However, it is still unclear what type of research vehicles that will be.
But in the past, the Russian probes that were sent to Venus did not last long and were dead only after half an hour due to the hostile environment of Venus.
Since it has been years that those probes were sent to Venus and technology has significantly improved over time, it is possible that a lander could survive the hostile planet for longer while enough for it to return some valuable data. It is interesting to see a new space race, specifically exploring Venus, unfold over the years.
READ: Phosphine in the Atmosphere of Venus Could be Sign of Life
Venera 13 and the Russian space mission to Venus
Out of the many probes that Russia has sent to Venus, it was the lander called Venera 13, which first transmitted color images from the planet's surface.
Venera 13 was designed to last for about half an hour on Venus, but somehow it ended up transmitting important data for more than two hours after it landed on March 1, 1982. Since then, no other landers have ventured into sending one to Venus, although there are several orbiters made.
However, documentation on the Venera missions was sparse because it happened during the Soviet Union era and Russians at that time preferred to keep all information of the mission a secret until officials deemed it appropriate to release the news.
That is why Americans were shocked when in 1957, Russia sent Sputnik, the world's first artificial satellite in space. It was then that Americans realized that the Russians were capable of sending satellites, which eventually led to the space race.
Perhaps it won't be long now that a new Venus mission will be launched once Venera-D of Roscosmos and NASA pushes through.
READ MORE: Gigantic Wave of Poisonous Tsunami Captured Crossing Across Venus
Check out more news and information on Venus on Science Times.
