# Venera 1: Humanity's First Voyage to Venus

# This is your Astronomy Tonight podcast.

Good evening, stargazers! Today, January 25th, marks a particularly thrilling anniversary in the annals of astronomical discovery – one that reminds us that the universe loves to keep its secrets close until the very moment it's ready to reveal them.

On this date in 1961, the Soviet Union launched **Venera 1**, humanity's first attempt to reach Venus and the very first spacecraft ever sent to another planet. Now, you might think we'd start with Mars, our friendly neighbor, but no – the Soviets looked at Venus, Earth's "sister planet," and thought, "Let's go straight for the hottest date in the solar system!"

Venera 1 was an audacious mission, weighing about 4,700 pounds and carrying instruments to study the Venusian atmosphere and magnetic field. It flew past Venus on May 19th of that year, passing within about 62,000 miles of that hellish world – making it the first spacecraft to reach another planet. The dramatic part? Scientists lost radio contact with it before it reached Venus, so we never got the data back. But those intrepid Soviet engineers didn't let that stop them. They kept trying, mission after mission, until they finally landed on Venus and learned why no one really wants to visit – it's basically a runaway greenhouse effect's fever dream at 900 degrees Fahrenheit!

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