Venus - Venera 7-16, Mariner 10, Pioneer Venus

We've learned that Venus space exploration started in 1962 with the Mariner 2 space craft that flew by the planet, and then after that the exploration continued closer into the planet's atmosphere with the Venera 3-6 and Mariner 5 space crafts.

The exploration continued on, as scientists tried to land space crafts on the surface, or get the space craft close enough to take pictures of the surface from outer space.

For 13 years, the Russian space program sent 10 different space crafts to study Venus.
Venera 7 - 14 all were landers that studied the surface after landing on the planet, and 15 - 16 studied the planet from space.

For 5 years the US NASA space program sent 3 space crafts to study Venus. Mariner 10 and did a fly by on its way to Mercury. Pioneer Venus Orbiter orbited around the planet to study from space. Pioneer Venus Multiprobe studied the atmosphere and also had some probes land on the surface to study it.

(from: wikipedia - pioneer venus multiprobe)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram

Venus - Venera 3-6, Mariner 5

After the Mariner 2 space craft got close to the planet Venus, scientists kept trying to get closer.

Starting in 1967, the Russians sent some spacecrafts to study the air around Venus (called the atmosphere).
The Venera 3 was first but it crashed on the planet and never sent back any information.
They sent 3 more spacecrafts, the Venera 4, Venera 5 and Venera 6.

The USA also sent the spacecraft Mariner 5 to Venus to study the sky.


(from: wikipedia - Mariner 5)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Luminosity Class

Venus - Mariner 2

We've learned about the Space Exploration of the moon, all the way up to the Apollo 11 moon landing.

We've also sent space crafts up to study other planets.
The first one was in 1962, called the Mariner 2.

It was launched on August 27, and on December 14 it got as close as 22,000 miles from Venus.

(from: wikipedia - mariner 2)

That might not seem very close, but the Earth is about 25,000,000 miles from Venus, so it got a lot closer than we are!

The last time the space craft sent data back to us was on January 3, 1963, then it stopped working and has just been floating in space, orbiting around Venus for over 50 years.

The Mariner 2 was used to try and measure the temperature and collect other information in the air near the planet.


(from: wikipedia - mariner 2)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Star Absolute Magnitude

Planet Venus

We've already learned about the planet Mercury,
so let's move on to the next planet in our solar system: Venus!

(from: wikipedia - venus)

Venus is the second closest planet to the sun, right between Earth and Mercury.

It's the hottest planet in our solar system, at over 850 °F!

Even though it's close to the same size as Earth, you wouldn't want to live there.
The clouds around the planet are made of sulfuric acid which would burn your skin if you touched them.

Besides the moon, Venus is the brightest planet in our sky at night.