Nuking Venus Options

[gndonald]

I was reading an online article on the various plans to explode nuclear weapons on the moon, when I spotted a reference to Soviet plans to 'calibrate' seismic models of Venus by exploding a nuclear weapon there, supposedly this planning went on until the 1970's which is well after the limited test ban treaty.

Obviously this would not have been a single craft mission, as seismographic equipment would have to have been emplaced before the explosion. Does anyone have any further information on just what was planned?

[Guest_BruceMoomaw_*]

Personal courtesy was not one of Khrushchev's strong points.

[Guest_DonPMitchell_*]

Personal courtesy was not one of Khrushchev's strong points.

Nikita Sergeyevich had a certain peasant charm. Certainly not a monster like Stalin, he supported the space program once he saw how politically effective it was, and after him came the utterly unimaginative bureaucrat, Brezhnev. His memoirs are fascinating.

My favorite quote of all time is also one of his: "What the scientists have in their briefcases is terrifying". In that era of cobalt bombs and orbital nuclear bombs, you can see what he meant.