Exploring Venus
The second planet from the sun, Venus, with its toxic overheated surface, has long been neglected by planetary mission planners. Lately, Earth’s sister planet has taken center stage in one of the greatest quests in science today: the search for life-bearing worlds beyond the solar system. That search has turned up over 4,000 planets, with thousands more waiting to be confirmed. There could be billions of planets the size of Earth and Venus spread across the galaxy. The quest for life-bearing worlds hinges on the questions: Why did Earth live, and why did Venus die?
The second planet from the sun, Venus, with its toxic overheated surface, has long been neglected by planetary mission planners. Lately, Earth’s sister planet has taken center stage in one of the greatest quests in science today: the search for life-bearing worlds beyond the solar system. That search has turned up over 4,000 planets, with thousands more waiting to be confirmed. There could be billions of planets the size of Earth and Venus spread across the galaxy. The quest for life-bearing worlds hinges on the questions: Why did Earth live, and why did Venus die?
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