Russia's strange photos on Venus

 the usa and the soviet union were neck  and neck in the space race of the 1950s  by the time the 60s officially ticked  over russian cosmonaut yuri gagarin had  become the first human in space  by the end of the 60s neil armstrong was  the first human foot to touch down on  the lunar surface  but what about venus welcome to fact  nominal  today taking a look at the soviet's  photography skills in  strange soviet venus photos so let's  jump right in  this east vs west space race is well  documented  a byproduct of the simmering aggressions  between the two world superpowers that  fuel the cold war for the best part of a  half a century  though it was military supremacy and  bragging rights that were the catalysts  for quantum leaps in space-age  technology  the competition between both sides  pioneered scientific advancement and the  development of technology  that furthered our understanding of the  universe and our place within it  venetian neglect while the world went  mad for the moon  the soviets actually focused on venus  they studied the planet with intense  interest  and succeeded in sending probes to take  the first color images of the planet's  surface  venus has long since held a fascination  in the hearts of men  and it was long thought to be the  brightest star in our sky  well up until its discovery as a planet  ancient cultures like the mayans  greeks and mesopotamians placed a  special emphasis on venus and its many  phases  although the u.s had shifted their  focuses elsewhere the soviets had their  eyes firmly fixed on the planet known as  earth's evil twin a place that rained  down sharp  shards of metal as well as corrosive  acid  the first probes as early as 1961 the  soviets attempted to send their first  probe to do a flyby of venus  however they lost contact soon after  leaving earth  and it's unknown whether the mission was  a success and made it to its destination  the probe was named the venera1 russian  for venus  and is regarded as the first object sent  into space that would have been  considered a spacecraft  due to its solar propulsion and ability  to correct its course  it's thought that venera 1 passed within  62 000 miles of venus  and remains in a heliocentric orbit to  this very day  four years later the venera 2 was  launched but broke up soon after  breaking free of earth's gravitational  pull  the venera 3 launched in 1966  was the first human-made object to  impact on another planet's surface  after it crash-landed on mars venera 4  5 and 6 became the first spacecraft to  measure the atmosphere of another planet  recording that venus had an atmospheric  pressure equal to roughly  100 that of earth  success finally success  venera 7 was able to land successfully  on the venetian surface and transmit 23  minutes of data back to earth  the subsequent venera 8 recorded a  surface temperature of 851 degrees  fahrenheit  it wasn't until 1975 that the venera 9  entered the orbit of venus as the first  artificial satellite to observe another  planet  spectrographs and topographical cameras  sent back images of mountainous ranges  and clouds that lay in three distinct  layers on top of each other  the article sent back to earth was just  six bits per pixel  would we describe as grainy these days  it wasn't until venera 13 that the  soviets obtained the first color decent  resolution photos of the surface of  venus  a series of eight 360-degree panoramic  photos  showed a landscape of brownish and  orange rocks and loose soil blowing  along in the wind  the probe took a sample of the soil with  similarities to basalt found here on  earth  and a high potassium content  surprisingly the probe lasted for two  hours and seven minutes before being  crushed by the immense pressure of venus  four times longer than anticipated  the eight images are infamous due to the  fact that no landers have touched down  on venus since  as only orbiters have observed venus for  the last 45 or so years