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The boss of the Russian space agency Roskosmos has called the planet Venus – where evidence of possible life has recently been discovered – a “Russian planet.” So reports the American CBS News.
Roscosmos boss Dmitry Rogozin, who is never short of a sarcastic, anti-Western statement, said this week that Russia wants to launch its own mission to Venus. Russia has also already proposed plans to go on a mission to the planet with the US.
“We think Venus is a Russian planet, so we shouldn’t lag behind,” Rogozin, former deputy prime minister, told journalists on Tuesday. He pointed out that the Soviet Union was so far “the first and only” nation to land on Venus with a space probe.
In 1970, the Soviet Union was effectively the first to land on Venus with the space probe Venera 7, but the craft melted away immediately after landing. His successor had a longer life five years later. Venera 9 took the first and so far some panoramic images of the Venus surface from the Venusian soil.
“Soviet planet”
“The sky-wide divide between the Soviet Union and its competitors in Venus research has contributed to the United States starting to call Venus a ‘Soviet planet’,” Roskosmos wrote on his website Tuesday.
Scientists recently discovered clues to possible life on Venus. Phosphine was found in the atmosphere of the neighboring planet, a gas produced on Earth by bacteria. This may mean that bacteria are also present on Venus, although this is not certain at all.
Last month, Rogozin stated that Venus was “more interesting” than Mars, because the planet could provide scientists with more insights into climate change here on Earth.
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