An exhibition on Venera 7, the first probe to transmit data from the surface of another planet. Final week on view.
On 15 December 1970 the Venera 7 descent capsule reached the surface of a planet where the temperature is 475 degrees and the pressure ninety atmospheres. Its faint signal, lasting 23 minutes, was the first transmission in history from the surface of another world.
The exhibition shows an engineering duplicate of the capsule, with a titanium hull designed for the crushing pressure, and a parachute system able to survive the Venusian heat. A diagram of the communication sessions explains how the ballistics team realised the probe had survived.
Context is provided by Sputnik 1 and Lunokhod 1 — milestones of the same interplanetary programme — while a Globus IMP recalls the navigation school behind every launch.
