Science | Life Lessons
Yes, There Are Color Photos of the Surface of Venus
How they came into being and the result of the mission.
I spent much of my childhood living near NASA. My bedroom door was covered in space shuttle stickers, one for each mission. I’ve been to several launches. My grandfather worked there in launch operations. My mother also worked there for three years. In fact, here is a cool family photo of her, pregnant with me, while standing in front of The Challenger. Note the baby bump:
Given all this space culture, I was surprised to recently learn there were photos from the surface of Venus. It somehow eluded my space-obsessed childhood. How had this never been mentioned? Perhaps it was less patriotic to even acknowledge the Russian success. For the uninformed, the entire NASA culture is very infused with Americanism.
After all, the Venus photos were ultimately a product of the Cold War. Our tensions with the USSR accelerated a number of innovations in space travel and research. The same international flexing that produced terrifying weapons also produced incredible technology. It was politically…
