Why are we going to Mars instead of Venus?

First, Venus is a closer planet to eath than is Mars.
www.fourmilab.ch...

Second, Venus is hotter than Mars and is closer to the sun, thus there is more potential solar energy on it.

Third, new research is showing that heat actually can help harvest more efficient solar power.
research.yale.edu...

To me, Venus seems like the greater opportunity even though the living conditions of the planet are definately more difficult. I see Venus as a constant source of solar/heat energy. This source of energy seems to be the cleanest/most renewable source of energy we have available why not travel closer to the sun before we try to leave our solar system?

Venus is hotter -- way too hot, above the melting point of lead!

It would be impossible for humans to exist on the surface and not that much sunlight gets down there since it is wrapped in thick clouds of sulfuric acid.

All in all the surface of Venus is pretty close to hell.

Mercury would be a better place for a Solar Power station. Closer to the sun, not as scorching temperatures and a thin atmosphere. I read somewhere that if we were to plaster a significant portion of the surface of mercury with Solar Panels we could conceivably beam back enough energy to satiate our needs for hundreds of years. Such a system could also be used to power lasers for inter-stellar launches as well.

Venus is just too extreme an environment for us to land on.

While Venus may be known as "earth's twin" because of its size, it surface conditions are quite unsimilar from earth. It has been very difficult to learn about Venus because the planet is always surrounded by thick clouds of sulfur and sulfuric acid. This is probably due to active volcanoes on the planet. Like Mercury, the surface of Venus is extremely hot and dry. However, surface features like mountains, canyons, valleys and flat plains have been detected. Two of its mountain regions are the size of entire continents on earth. There is no water on Venus' surface because the high temperatures would simply make the water boil away.

Of all the planets in the solar system, Venus has the heaviest atmosphere. The atmospheric pressure is estimated at 1,323 lbs. per sq.in as compared to earth's 14.7 lbs. per sq.in. It consists primarily of carbon dioxide but also has small amounts of of nitrogen and water vapor. There are minute traces of argon, carbon monoxide, neon and sulfur dioxide. Scientists believe that plants and animals that are found on earth could not exist on Venus because of the high temperature and insufficient oxygen. It is not known whether other forms of life exist there, but it is highly doubted.
library.thinkquest.org...

With the surface being about 400 °C. you'd need one hell of a cooling system to survive for any time on the planet.

I'd have to do some checking, but I think the only craft that have landed on the surface only survived a short time before they were corroded by the atmosphere.
You can google Venera - 9 and 10 for more info on the Soviet missions.

This is one of the pictures that Venera 9 sent back:

I'm pretty sure AD is right. We've sent probes, but many have been lost or destroyed in the process

www.planetary.org...

Not nearly as hospitable as Mars.

It's funny, but I was just looking up the Venera missions the other day. Some neat images from those landers, but yeah there life time was really short. I think, for example, Venera 13 was supposed to last for +30min, but managed to stay going for 127min. That's still not really a long time.

I'd love to see more surface missions to Venus, but it's just not economical. The rover's/landers life span is going to be very short, unlike Mars rover's/landers which are in a colder, less hellish environment.





Some colour surface photos here too www.mentallandscape.com...

I don't think that's the real color, JRA. Seems to be b&w colorized with yellow.

Originally posted by SteveR
I don't think that's the real color, JRA. Seems to be b&w colorized with yellow.

I believe it's coloured the same way missions to other planets are, through the use of colour filters.

www.mentallandscape.com...

The Venera landers transmitted digital images with a depth of 9 bits and an approximately logarithmic encoding of photometric brightness. Multiple panoramas were scanned by the camera, including some with red, green or blue glass filters in place.

Just wondering, if the surface of Venus is that extremely hot, how did the Venera 14 lander manage to survive when it landed?

According to wiki
en.wikipedia.org...

The lander survived for 57 minutes (the planned design life was 32 minutes) in an environment with a temperature of 465 °C and a pressure of 94 Earth atmospheres (9.5 MPa).

What was the lander made out of to prevent it from melting the very second it landed?

It looks like the Russian Space Agency may do more Venus landers.

www.russianspaceweb.com...

Venera-D project

On October 22, 2005, the Russian government signed a decree No. 635, approving Federal Space Program for 2006-2015. It included funding for the Venera-D project, which envisioned a lander on the surface of Venus. Speaking at the 5th International Aerospace Congress in Moscow, on August 29, 2006, Deputy Chief of the Federal Space Agency, Vitaly Davydov, listed Venera-D among high-priority exploration projects funded by the Russian government.

A bit more here as well en.wikipedia.org...

Originally posted by balon0
Just wondering, if the surface of Venus is that extremely hot, how did the Venera 14 lander manage to survive when it landed?

The lander survived for 57 minutes (the planned design life was 32 minutes) in an environment with a temperature of 465 °C and a pressure of 94 Earth atmospheres (9.5 MPa).

What was the lander made out of to prevent it from melting the very second it landed?

Most common metals have melting points above the surface temp of Venus:

en.wikipedia.org...

However, The metal used on Venera 14 was titanium (melting point 1660 C).

The real problem isn't the possible melting of the spacecraft, but the crushing pressures (although the heat is a bit of a problem, too). 9.5 MPa would be like having about 1400 lbs , or 630 kg, of force pushing on every square inch if the lander (or a person!).

Another problem is the corrosive sulfuric acid in the clouds. While there is no (maybe a little?) sulfuric acid near the surface, the spacecraft did need to descend through the corrosive acid cloud layer.
.

I just saw this 30 minute video on another thread -
Summerian Origins of Life

This talks about Mars being a station - a jump off point - for anunnaki.

Seriously ... I never believed that there were anunnaki, but some of what is in this video makes sense. Mars is discussed.

Originally posted by Soylent Green Is People

Originally posted by balon0
What was the lander made out of to prevent it from melting the very second it landed?

Most common metals have melting points above the surface temp of Venus:

However, The metal used on Venera 14 was titanium (melting point 1660 C).

The camera people! The camera!

[edit on 26/12/06 by SteveR]

[edit on 26/12/06 by SteveR]

The camera people! The camera!

You're absolutely right. There are other materials on the lander, not just metal... I was just trying to keep my post "short and sweet".

As for the camera plus any other non-titanium items, I suspect we have the technology to invent materials that can withstand the heat and pressures of Venus (even if it's only for a short while)