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Venera 13 Survived 127 Minutes; New Venus Probes Coming.

5/19/2026

Summary

Venera13 Survives

Venera 13 landed 1 March 1982, survived 127 minutes at 457 °C and 89 atmospheres, and sent colour-TV panoramic images of Venus’s plains.
Venera 5 (16 May 1969) and Venera 6 (17 May 1969) transmitted 53 minutes and 51 minutes, were crushed at 24 km and 10 km.
A 2025 study says seven Soviet probes remain on Venus, titanium and aluminium resist acid, rubber O-rings fail.
DAVINCI, EnVision, and Venera-D are slated for 2029-2031 missions, with DAVINCI descending an hour and EnVision mapping Venus in 2031.

Summary

Cosmos 482 Crashes

Cosmos 482’s descent module crashed into the Indian Ocean in 2025 after orbital decay.
The March 1972 Venus probe’s upper-stage failure left a half-tonne titanium sphere in high Earth orbit that stayed aloft for over five decades.
Space agencies tracked its re-entry for weeks and once projected a possible impact in the southeastern United States.
Roscosmos confirmed the impact occurred in the Indian Ocean, where the lander now rests on the seafloor.

Summary

DAVINCI Probes

NASA's DAVINCI mission, launching in the early 2030s, will drop a descent probe that records atmospheric data and surface imagery before reaching Venus’s ground.
Mission planners note that the probe’s landing ellipse overlaps Soviet titanium sphere debris, raising the chance that images could capture Cold-War hardware.
ESA’s EnVision orbiter, India’s Shukrayaan-1, and private firms are also developing 2030s Venus missions, expanding international and commercial interest.

Summary

DAVINCI Photographs Relic

DAVINCI may photograph the 1975 Venus lander camera, producing a portrait of a 50-year-old artifact.
The camera captured the first Venus surface photo returned in October 1975, when “Born to Run” debuted.
Because no crewed or sample-return mission is planned, the relic stays on the basalt slope under the sky despite a thirty-year lull that new missions and a Nature collection have revived Venus interest.

History

Historical Context

In March 1982 the Soviet Venera 13 lander touched down on Venus, surviving 127 minutes in 457 °C and 89 atmospheres and sending the first color panoramic photos and the planet’s first sound recordings. That Cold-War achievement established a landing site later revisited by NASA’s planned 2030 DAVINCI descent probe, which will fly over the same ellipse studied by ESA’s EnVision.

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Venera13 Survives

Venera 13 landed 1 March 1982, survived 127 minutes at 457 °C and 89 atmospheres, and sent colour-TV panoramic images of Venus’s plains.
Venera 5 (16 May 1969) and Venera 6 (17 May 1969) transmitted 53 minutes and 51 minutes, were crushed at 24 km and 10 km.
A 2025 study says seven Soviet probes remain on Venus, titanium and aluminium resist acid, rubber O-rings fail.
DAVINCI, EnVision, and Venera-D are slated for 2029-2031 missions, with DAVINCI descending an hour and EnVision mapping Venus in 2031.

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