Hell Planet: The Soviet War with Venus episode artwork

EPISODE · Apr 8, 2025 · 1H 19M

Hell Planet: The Soviet War with Venus

from Badass of the Week · host Badass History - High Five Content & Seven Bucks Productions

The surface of Venus is a nightmare: 900 degrees Fahrenheit, 90 times Earth’s atmospheric pressure, and rain made of acid. It’s the most hostile place in the solar system—and the Soviet Union was insane enough to send probes there. Again. And again. And again. In this episode, Ben and guest Erik Slader (Epik Fails of History) dive into the Soviet Venera Program: a two-decade war against a planet that melts metal, crushes steel, and kills spacecraft in minutes. Most of these missions failed. A few didn’t. And the ones that made it didn’t just survive—they made history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The surface of Venus is a nightmare: 900 degrees Fahrenheit, 90 times Earth’s atmospheric pressure, and rain made of acid. It’s the most hostile place in the solar system—and the Soviet Union was insane enough to send probes there. Again. And again. And again. In this episode, Ben and guest Erik Slader (Epik Fails of History) dive into the Soviet Venera Program: a two-decade war against a planet that melts metal, crushes steel, and kills spacecraft in minutes. Most of these missions failed. A few didn’t. And the ones that made it didn’t just survive—they made history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Hell Planet: The Soviet War with Venus

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This episode was published on April 8, 2025.

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The surface of Venus is a nightmare: 900 degrees Fahrenheit, 90 times Earth’s atmospheric pressure, and rain made of acid. It’s the most hostile place in the solar system—and the Soviet Union was insane enough to send probes there. Again. And again....

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