General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Why are we back to dropping our spacecraft [View all]Baclava
(12,047 posts)The temperature and pressure on the surface of Venus are so extreme that none of the armored Russian spacecraft of the Venera series lasted more than an hour on the surface. Within that short period, they and the multiprobe of the Magellan mission have provided us with all the direct data we have about the harsh Venusian surface. The pressure at the surface is about 90 Earth atmospheres! This is a pressure of about 900 Newtons per square centimeter or about 1300 pounds per square inch.
The surface temperature of about 750 K or about 480°C or nearly 900°F is hot enough to melt lead, hotter than any household oven temperature. This temperature destroyed the well-insulated and highly protected Russian electronics of the Venera surface craft within an hour.
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/solar/venusenv.html#c2