Abstract
In early 1961, Venus hung like a brilliant inviting beacon in the twilight. As the “Evening Star” approached within 42 million km (26 million mi) of earth, rocket travel time to Venus was only four months, nearly half that required to reach Mars, making it a tempting target. Both America and Russia desperately wanted to reach Venus first to claim a space-race political prize. NASA’s lack of powerful booster rockets allowed Russia the first attempt to reach the planet, but America eventually succeeded in actually reaching Venus first.
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References
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Ibid.
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© 1994 Robert Reeves
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Reeves, R. (1994). Probing the Unsolved Planet. In: The Superpower Space Race. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-5986-7_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-5986-7_6
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