Venus still a hot Mystery

[Hum]

(SPACE.com) -- After the sun and the moon, Venus is the third brightest body in our sky, and because of this it received lots of attention from all the great ancient civilizations, including the Mayans, the Egyptians, and the Greeks.

As early as 1600 B.C. the Babylonians kept detailed records of its movement across the sky.

But in modern times our nearest neighbor has been somewhat neglected and only three missions have been dedicated to studying the heavily clouded planet. As a result, there is still a lot astronomers don't know about Venus.

Even the things they do know fairly well, such as the contents of its atmosphere, speed of rotation, and texture of its surface, continue to raise questions.

The planet rotates counterclockwise, opposite Earth and most other planets, and does so exceedingly slow -- one day on Venus equals 243 Earth days. Scientists have speculated that a massive collision with an asteroid long ago may have reversed and slowed down Venus's spin. This event may have also set off a global volcanic reaction that led to the planet's resurfacing.

The European Space Agency plans soon to launch the instrument-loaded Venus Express satellite, which will orbit the "evening star" for two years. Over the course of the mission the satellite will bounce radio waves off the planet's young surface, snap pictures of its swirling atmosphere, take the temperature of the clouds, and search for hints of a magnetic field.

All this data will help scientists better understand a planet that from the outside resembles an early Earth and perhaps reveal clues of the existence of life.

The launch of the European Space Agency's "Venus Express" spacecraft has been delayed after technicians discovered contamination in the Russian-made launcher, an ESA official said on Monday. The probe will travel through space for around 163 days, orbit the planet and analyze its atmosphere and clouds.

Full Story

[~WinGz~]

w00, venus is finally gettin recognition over all theses years, we hear so much about mars now, that i think venus needs some time to get studied. maybe someday we will send probes to land there again that will study its surface again before they get crushed by the massive gravity.

[Hum]

...we will send probes to land there again that will study its surface again before they get crushed by the massive gravity.

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"The gravity on Venus is 91% of the gravity on Earth."

Not much difference in gravity -- it's the supposed high heat, air pressure & winds that crushes and destroys probes. But I still think the Aliens there do it. ;)

[Felinix_Devotion]

Hum we share a view, I do wonder though I mean our probles are so backwards in technology it is possible a more advanced civlisation just alerts them while passing so we do not detect anything which makes us rush to Venus.

[Hum]

...  it is possible a more advanced civilisation just alerts them while passing so we do not detect anything which makes us rush to Venus.

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For what it's worth: The Venusians are supposed to live underground, and threw the Russian probes into a volcano when each attempted to land on Venus. Thus, the high temperature readings.

Also, Russia is rumored to have landed 3 men on Venus before the 1969 USA moon landing. They were attempting to trump the USA in Space exploration, The then USSR, kept it secret out of embarassment from the 3 cosmonauts' presumed death. ;)

[raid517]

Hey man don't encorage him! There is a sperate forum section for that kind of talk

GJ

[+E.Worm Jimmy Subscriber¹]

edit: nevermind.

[JohnsonBox]

Hmm, Hum was a joker. Go joke section mate. Not here.