Russia calls Venus a 'Russian Planet'; announces exploration missions

Russia is claiming that Venus is a "Russian planet." The Soviet Union has planned exploration projects for the planet for 2021 to 2030.

The head of Russian space corporation Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin has made the big announcement in a press conference with reporters on Tuesday during the HeliRussia-2020 exhibition, an international expo of the helicopter industry. According to TASS, the Russian News Agency, the country's plans to "send its own mission" to the neighbouring planet in addition to a joint mission with the US "Venera-D" were revealed.

"Resuming Venus exploration is on our agenda. Firstly, we have the "Venera-D" project in cooperation with the Americans. We are also considering our own mission to Venus," Rogozin said in a statement.

"We think that Venus is a Russian planet, so we shouldn't lag behind. Projects of Venus missions are included in the united government program of Russia's space exploration for 2021-2030," he added.

Plans for Venus exploration program were first spoken about in May, said Scientific Director of the Russian Space Research Institute Lev Zeleny. As per the report, they are planning to develop a program that will carry at least three vehicles to the planet.

The researchers insist that the first expedition to the planet within the program will remain Venera-D, a proposed Russian space mission to Venus that is expected to take place in the later part of the 2020s. The plan includes an orbiter and a lander to launch on the planet, to make observations with the use of radar.

Meanwhile, Venera, which means Venus, is a series of space probes developed by the Soviet Union between the years 1961 and 1984. The prime objective of the program was to gather information about the second planet in our solar system. So far, 10 probes successfully landed on the Venusian surface and 13 probes successfully entered its atmosphere. However, the probes could not survive for more than a few hours due to extreme conditions on the planet.

The big announcement from Rogozin comes days after NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine announced four new space exploration missions. Out of which, two missions are being considered for Venus. "One is focused on understanding its atmosphere and the other is focused on understanding Venus' geological history," Bridenstine wrote on NASA's blog.

"The U.S. is also partnering with Europe on another proposed Venus mission called EnVision that could be selected to go to our next-door neighbour," he added.