Venus is so very nice, NASA is going there twice

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smp United States of America
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Venus is so very nice, NASA is going there twice

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Post by smp »


From Ars Technica:
"NASA announced Wednesday that it will send, not one, but two spacecraft to Venus this decade as part of its efforts to ramp up exploration of the closest planet to Earth.

The decision was hailed by scientists who study Venus and have felt neglected by a space agency decidedly more interested in Mars. NASA has not sent a robotic spacecraft to Venus since the launch of the Magellan orbiter in 1989. Launched by space shuttle Atlantis, Magellan made a controlled entry into the Venusian atmosphere in 1994 after collecting reams of data that have tantalized scientists ever since."

https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/06 ... -hothouse/

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Re: Venus is so very nice, NASA is going there twice

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Post by smp »


From Space.com:
"NASA will launch 2 new missions to Venus by 2030 to return to Earth's hellish twin"

https://www.space.com/nasa-unveils-2-ve ... as-davinci

From SpaceNews.com:
"NASA selects two Venus missions for Discovery program"

https://spacenews.com/nasa-selects-two- ... y-program/

From ScienceMag.org:
"Venus can’t wait—NASA plans blockbuster return to hothouse neighbor"

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/06 ... e-neighbor

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Re: Venus is so very nice, NASA is going there twice

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Post by GCoyote »


smp wrote: Thu Jun 03, 2021 12:09 pm From Ars Technica:
"NASA announced Wednesday that it will send, not one, but two spacecraft to Venus this decade as part of its efforts to ramp up exploration of the closest planet to Earth.

The decision was hailed by scientists who study Venus and have felt neglected by a space agency decidedly more interested in Mars. NASA has not sent a robotic spacecraft to Venus since the launch of the Magellan orbiter in 1989. Launched by space shuttle Atlantis, Magellan made a controlled entry into the Venusian atmosphere in 1994 after collecting reams of data that have tantalized scientists ever since."

https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/06 ... -hothouse/

smp

While the article is good in explaining the new missions, the discussion of NASA's historical preference for Mars overlooks a critical point: Nothing man made will function for very long on the surface of Venus. So no rovers and no missions that run for year after year under those surface conditions. The Martian surface is simply a much easier target and the obscuring clouds mean you must depend on radar to image the surface of Venus so no full color high definition photos. Despite its proximity, it's simply a much more difficult target than other bodies in the solar system.
Any metaphor will tear if stretched over too much reality.
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Re: Venus is so very nice, NASA is going there twice

#4

Post by Graeme1858 »


GCoyote wrote: Thu Jun 03, 2021 9:10 pm Nothing man made will function for very long on the surface of Venus.

"Sister planet" and "Goddess of love" are more than a tad misleading!

Here's the NASA press release:

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa ... d-of-venus

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