Why is Russia's series of Venera missions blacked out by American media?

Question

I had no clue that Russia landed something similar to the Mars rover (except it doesn't drive around) on Venus in the 60's or 70's i forget which, until only a few days ago. I had no clue that they did this? Russia launches a series of missions named "Venera" meaning "Venus" in Russian obviously, which was an effort to investigate Venus, just how America is investigating Mars so much. Venus was to Russia as Mars is to America. I had no clue about this, and im sure the great majority of people on this forum haven't heard about it either, unless you're Russian. If you go to google, then click images, and type in "venera photo" you'll see a picture from the perspective of a lander on Venus. My question is, why the h**l almost no one knows about this, i know it happened a long time ago, and nothing special was discovered, but its still a great accomplishment to land a craft on venus nevertheless. It took some tries, but eventually Russia landed this thing on Mars, and was able to take pictures and research the surface of Venus for an hour until the instruments were "cooked".

Answer 1

Don't forget that most Americans still think that Charles Lindbergh was the first person to fly across the Atlantic (he wasn't even the first American).

The Cheese thing actually started as a joke (many centuries ago), by one English chap being asked about the peasants.  He said something along the lines of "The peasants are so uneducated, you might as well tell them the Moon is made of greene cheese, and they would believe you." (greene = unripened, too young to eat).

The story became so popular in England that some people ended up believing that there was actually a belief that the Moon was made of Cheese.

The English also gave us the idea of the Flat Earth and the develish idead that the world is only 6000 years old (from James Ussher, a paranoid Calvinist bishop).

Now, for some reason, all these absurdities are surfacing in North America, and presented as truths to young people.

Answer 2

NASA hasn't promoted the Russian program.  But the Russians have made lots of interesting stuff available.

In fact, an American has gone to considerable effort to clean up some of the Russian photography.

Answer 3

I'd never really noticed this, but now that you mention it, there hasn't been a whole lot of hoopla about other countries' robotic missions to other worlds.

There's not really a whole lot of hoopla about our own missions either, except right when they launch and right when they first arrive. What sort of soy milk goes in the bottles Paris Hilton is feeding her puppies seems to be of more national interest over here in the 'States, and I'm sure that a few pictures from the surface of Venus aren't going to garner ratings, so documentary writers tend to exhibit a bit of homerism in their selection of topics.

I don't think it's a conscious effort to suppress the Venera program as much as it is simply forgotten in the push towards topics that will captivate interest and thus get ratings. I didn't enjoy the "Universe" series all that much - I found it to be a bit too 'Jerry Bruckheimer' in nature, all flash and focus on sensationalism, but at least if they manage to get more people interested in space, then they serve their purpose...

I've known about Venera for quite some time (since I was a kid, I think) but then I've always been interested in astronomy.

Kudos on finding something interesting and sharing. Now make sure you share it with some friends and hopefully get a few more converts in the cause of pro-space. :)

Answer 4

Theres all sorts of huge accomplishments of the soviet space program that americans are never told about thanks to the jew controlled western media and Rupert Murdoch. Thay made a bunch of space stations and s shuttle too!  The american media has covered it all up so well, that the only way to hear about these things is by ready books about space travel that only really nerdy people read anyway.  It's a conspiracy

Answer 5

they barely mentioned that Russia even had a space program. Just like you never heard in school who the first my in space was...but you sure as h**l hear about who landed on the moon first. I always wondered what the Germans teach about the holocaust?  

Answer 6

The Soviets launched more missions (Fly-bys, orbiters and landers) to Venus than other space fairing nation. There have been a total of 29 missions, 17 of which failed to even reach Venus. That's only a 42 percent success rate. Of the successful missions, the longest orbital mission (Venera 16)  only lasted 8 months. Compare that to the 5 year mission of NASA's Magellan mission. The longest any lander survived on the surface (Venera 13) was 127 minutes. The only thing these missions accomplished was the realization that there are more cost effective ways to explore Venus other than dropping a probe on the surface.

I don't know where this conspiracy about the Venera missions being 'blacked out' came from. The simple fact of the matter is that for all the effort expended to explore Venus, the science return has been very low. That's why they aren't talked about much. Venus is hot, inhospitable and it's atmosphere is so thick it will crush anything we try to land of the surface. Crashing things into dosen't make for great news stories.

Answer 7

Perhaps this is not widely known within America, but in other countries, it is no secret. I'm from England, and it was mentioned in the space atlas I've had since 1988.

Now I live in Canada, and I'm regularly exposed to the American media. I don't trust it a bit. Completely biased. If you want unbiased news, go to bbc.com.  

Answer 8

The Russian probes to Venus were no secret, I've seen the few pictures that it was able to obtain on the surface before the last one was fried by the ghastly heat and pressure.  It is the only pictures so far taken on the surface of Venus, but that's about all it was able to do.  The Magellan probe's radar mapping of Venus was much more useful.

Answer 9

They were not blacked out by the media.  It was very interesting.  You just had to choose to read about it.  You obviously made the wrong choice and now you are jumping to the wrong conclusion about the whole thing.  It must be some sort of conspiracy if no one bothered to invite YOU to read about it.  I see, this is how these silly conspiracy stories get started.  Thank you for clearing that up for me.

Answer 10

I was aware of it, and make efforts to let other people know, it was an amazing accomplishment with the technology of the time. Even better, the original data tapes from these missions was recently recovered and modern technology has allowed us to clean them up and learn even more.

Heck, how many people know that not only did the Russians land rovers on the Moon, they landed rovers which returned to Earth with samples! To a very real extent, the Russians pioneered robotic exploration of the solar system, and it's a shame that they get little credit for it in the west.

Answer 11

speak for yourself. ppl involved in space know all about venera. there was no mystery at the time, nor is there any mystery now. the u.s. media just have their heads up their collective asses, that's all. nothing new there.

Answer 12

Venera 4 made it to the surface of Venus in 1967.... my first year of college... we knew all about it in the science dept!!... remarkable achievement!!.... however, the news of it's success was overshadowed by the Viet Nam war... also happening at the time.... it wasn't 'buried', it just took second or third place in the news of prime importance.... it landed October 18.... the 21st, an Anti-War demonstration took the headlines when 70,000 of us hit Washington!..... Venera was pushed to page two....