On December 15, 1970, humanity accomplished something that once seemed firmly in the realm of science fiction. A robotic spacecraft built by the Soviet Union survived its descent through the crushing atmosphere of Venus and transmitted data back to Earth from the planet’s surface. That spacecraft was Venera 7, and its success marked one of …
In the early 1960s, space exploration existed at the intersection of daring imagination and fragile technology. Rockets failed as often as they succeeded, computers filled entire rooms yet possessed less power than a modern calculator, and every mission carried the real possibility of ending in silence. Still, the optimism of the era pushed scientists and …
