Venus a Hostile World
February 27th 2011 05:25
Category: Planets
Venus as the "Evening Star
It may be Earth’s sister planet but I sure would not like to be there.
The morning and evening “star” shines brightly in the sky, it’s the most recognisable planet in our solar system but it still gets tagged as a “UFO”.
Venus Seen through a blue filter showing some cloud formations; NASA image
The Space Shuttle era is coming to a close and the lack of funding for manned flight is almost a lost dream.
Perhaps the use of unmanned space craft is were we are heading, I guess in the short term.
Since 1961 there have been over a dozen unmanned missions to "Earth's Sister" that have yielded great deal of information. Temperatures reach 900 degrees Fahrenheit hot enough to melt lead.
Image taken by the Venera 13 probe showing some surface features
The surface pressure is murder with a pressure 90 times greater than that on Earth.
No probe has lasted more than an hour before the heat, pressure and acid atmosphere took there toll.
The Russian’s have had the most success with getting surface images and some data readings.
Recently, Russia has proposed a return mission to Venus, but is seeking international support to help fund the mission.
Not wanting to be left out NASA is proposing its own mission to Venus. NASA hope to send a series of probes to Venus.
Radar image of Venus
The probes would descend into the atmosphere to gather the planet’s weather patterns and atmospheric composition. If the probe survived the decent to the surface data on soil samples would be the next step. The information would assist us in understanding our own planet and shed light on the origin of the Solar System.
| 29 |
| Vote |
Add To: 
subscribe to this blog
Comment by S.L.
The Political Brief
Comment by CarlCan
Astroearth
Camera Sense
I agree Mars is a better alternative.