After 2025, Russia plans to send a new spacecraft to the second planet from our star. The mission was called Venus-D (“Long-lived Venus). But how long the device will be able to hold out on the surface and will it beat the Soviet records?
Flights to Venus
The first photos of another planet, made by the Soviet apparatus Venus-9
Recently, we mentioned the breakthrough of the USSR regarding the hottest planet in the solar system - “Soviet feat: the first landing of a spacecraft on Venus”. Agree that to plant the device in hellish conditions in the 1960-70s. - really a feat and a big breakthrough.
At that time, scientists were not only trying to reach the surface, but also to study the atmosphere, temperature, pressure, etc. To obtain an adequate database, you need to follow a simple rule: the longer the mechanism works, the more information will arrive. In this regard, everything was difficult, since the devices could not hold out for a long time.
Photos of the surface of Venus taken by the Soviet apparatus Venus-10
If to compare with today's missions on Mars and the Moon, which have been working for months, years and decades (even on asteroids, you can linger for dozens of hours), then on Venus the operation time was calculated in minutes and hours.
For example, the first landing from the Soviet ship Venera-7 brought 53 minutes of work, where only 20 minutes fell to the surface. Venus-8 has increased the duration of work after landing up to 50 minutes. The next unit improved the result by 3 minutes, and Venus-10 - 65 minutes.
Venus through the eyes of the Soviet apparatus Venus-13
The record in 1978 managed to beat the American ship Pioneer-Venus-2 with a score of 68 minutes (work after landing on the surface). But a month later (in September), the Soviet Venus-11 arrives with 95 minutes and Venus-12 - 110 minutes.
The efforts of the USSR led to the fact that their apparatus Venus-13 (1981) worked 127 minutes, although they counted on only 32! Can we please the modern Russian spaceship?
Venus Long-lived
Venus-D is a modern project to study the second world of the Solar System, which is an example of cooperation between Russia and NASA (“Russia and the United States will cooperate in the study of Venus”). The interplanetary station is being developed by the Russian side, and American engineers must provide scientific equipment and, possibly, small probes with a duration of several thousand hours.
In addition to analyzing the usual characteristics of the planet, such as temperature, pressure and atmospheric composition, Venus-D should quickly extract soil samples (15 minutes after planting), analyze them and transmit data to Earth. How long can she hold out?
Initially, they counted on several days, but recently they have reported that the space landing pad will stop responding to signals after 3 hours or less. Engineers believe that it will take so much time for the final overheating of the system. But this period should be enough for the mechanism to extract samples, analyze and transmit all information. However, some experts still do not bet on hours, but work days (several days), although the American representatives are not so optimistic in their forecasts. An orbiter is used as a repeater. The exact launch date is not called yet, but they are guided by 2027.
Postscript
If you take the previous Soviet figure of 127 minutes, then 3 hours will be a new record. Of course, everyone expects months of work from modern equipment. In the end, the recently launched Parker mission is going to survive on contact with the solar corona! Is it really impossible to spend at least a few days on the surface of Venus?
Russian representatives say that 3 hours will be enough to complete the mission (information gathering and soil analysis). If you want more from the apparatus, then improvements will be required that entail serious cash investments. And speaking directly, in the current state, the mission is constantly forced to seek sources of funding.
