Introduction:
Gaze at the image above, displaying Earth's moon, Venus, Earth, and Mars from left to right, all roughly to scale. Mars, closer in size and mass to our moon, may not be the best candidate for colonization or terraforming. However, Venus, often overlooked, offers a wealth of resources and opportunities for human expansion. This one-page site aims to shed light on the advantages of focusing our efforts on Venus over Mars.Where Mars Falls Short:
- Mars' soil is toxic, containing high levels of Perchlorate
- Mars' gravity is 38% that of Earth.
- Mars has limited resources
- Mars is further away, requiring long trips for astronauts.
- Terraforming Mars requires adding planetary masses of materials.
Venus: Earth's Underrated Sister
- Venus' gravity is 91% of Earth's gravity.
- Venus size is 94.99% the size of Earth.
- Venus is abundant in resources.
- Terraforming Venus teaches us to control global warming and cooling on Earth.
- Yes, if we learn to Terraform Venus, we learn how to fix and completely control Earth's climate
- Cloud Cities: Floating settlements in the Venusian atmosphere, much like the Cloud City of Bespin. (A Star Wars Reference)
- Venus is closer to Earth.
Terraforming Venus: The Path Forward
- Deploy solar power-generating shades in Venus' orbit, reducing solar exposure of the atmosphere.
- Harvest materials from the atmosphere and perform research. Using floating laboratory habitats.
- Tie together trash and place it in orbit around the planet. These shades can work with the solar power generation farms.
- Within the floating cities, the humans live in a normal atmosphere, with normal temperatures.
Conclusion
Venus, despite lacking the marketing and hype surrounding Mars, offers immense potential for human expansion, mining, research, and combating climate change. By investing in the exploration, terraforming, and colonization of Venus, we unlock a treasure trove of resources, knowledge and opportunities for humanity, in our solar system. It's time to shift our focus and recognize the true potential of Earth's beautiful sister, Venus.
: How To Terraform Venus (Quickly) An interesting video released by the channel Kurzgesagt - In a Nutshell. It goes over some of the proposals on how Venus might be terraformed.
History of Venus Missions
Mission | Date | Vehicle | Nation | Operator | Outcome | Detail | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tyazhely Sputnik | 4 February 1961 | Molniya | Soviet Union | OKB-1 | Launch failure | Never made it to Venus | First attempt to launch a Venus probe | |
Venera 1 | 12 February 1961 | Molniya | Soviet Union | OKB-1 | Spacecraft failure | Communications failure, no data returned | First Venus probe | |
Mariner 1 | 22 July 1962 | Atlas-LV3 Agena-B | United States | NASA | Launch failure | Destroyed by Range Safety, Guidance failure | First USA attempt to launch a Venus probe | |
2MV-1 No.1 | 25 August 1962 | Molniya | Soviet Union | OKB-1 | Launch failure | Premature Stage cutoff, never left LEO | ||
Mariner 2 | 27 August 1962 | Atlas-LV3 Agena-B | United States | NASA | Successful | First successful Venus probe | First Successful flyby of another planet, 14 December 1962 | |
2MV-1 No.2 | 1 September 1962 | Molniya | Soviet Union | OKB-1 | Launch failure | Upper stage fuel valve failure, failure to ignite | Never left LEO | |
2MV-2 No.1 | 12 September 1962 | Molniya | Soviet Union | OKB-1 | Launch failure | 3rd Stage premature cutoff caused bubbles in 4th stage fuel | Never left LEO | |
3MV-1 No.2 | 19 February 1964 | Molniya-M | Soviet Union | OKB-1 | Launch failure | 3rd stage Oxidizer leak caused fuel lines to freeze up | Failed to Orbit | |
Kosmos 27 | 27 March 1964 | Molniya-M | Soviet Union | OKB-1 | Launch failure | Upper stage attitude controller failure | Never left LEO | |
Zond 1 | 2 April 1964 | Molniya-M | Soviet Union | OKB-1 | Spacecraft failure | Electronics Shorted out, Communications lost before flyby | Flew past Venus 14 July 1964 | |
Venera 2 | 12 November 1965 | Molniya-M | Soviet Union | OKB-1 | Spacecraft Failure | Flew past Venus 27 February 1966 | Communications lost after flyby before any data was returned | |
Venera 3 | 16 November 1965 | Molniya-M | Soviet Union | OKB-1 | Spacecraft Failure | Communications lost after entering Venusian atmosphere | First atmospheric entry and impact on another planet | |
Kosmos 96 | 23 November 1965 | Molniya-M | Soviet Union | OKB-1 | Launch failure | 3rd stage combustion chamber explosion, upper stage failed to ignite | Never left LEO | |
Venera 4 | 12 June 1967 | Molniya-M | Soviet Union | Lavochkin | Successful | Returned atmospheric data during entry on 18 October 1967 | First successful atmospheric entry on another planet, never intended to work on surface. | |
Mariner 5 | 14 June 1967 | Atlas-SLV3 Agena-D | United States | NASA | Successful | Flyby of 19 October 1967 | Closest approach at 17:34:56 UTC at an altitude of 3,990 kilometers (2,480 mi). | |
Kosmos 167 | 17 June 1967 | Molniya-M | Soviet Union | Lavochkin | Launch failure | Upper stage failed to ignite, turbopump cooling malfunction | Never left LEO | |
Venera 5 | 5 January 1969 | Molniya-M | Soviet Union | Lavochkin | Successful | Entered atmosphere 16 May 1969 | Operated for 53 minutes | |
Venera 6 | 10 January 1969 | Molniya-M | Soviet Union | Lavochkin | Successful | Entered atmosphere 17 May 1969 | Operated for 51 minutes | |
Venera 7 | 17 August 1970 | Molniya-M | Soviet Union | Lavochkin | Partially Successful | Soft Landing at 05:37:10 UTC, 15 December 1970 | Returned severely limited data | |
Kosmos 359 | 22 August 1970 | Molniya-M | Soviet Union | Lavochkin | Launch failure | Never left LEO | ||
Venera 8 | 27 March 1972 | Molniya-M | Soviet Union | Lavochkin | Successful | Landed at 09:32 UTC, 22 July 1972 | First fully successful landing on another planet. | |
Kosmos 482 | 31 March 1972 | Molniya-M | Soviet Union | Lavochkin | Launch failure | Never left LEO | ||
Mariner 10 | 3 November 1973 | Atlas SLV-3D Centaur-D1A | United States | NASA | Successful | Flyby on 4 February 1974 | Observed Venus and performed gravity assist to reach Mercury | |
Venera 9 | 8 June 1975 | Proton-K/D | Soviet Union | Lavochkin | Successful | Entered Orbit 20 October 1975. Landed 05:13 UTC, 22 October 1975 | First spacecraft to orbit another planet. First images from the surface of another planet. | |
Venera 10 | 14 June 1975 | Proton-K/D | Soviet Union | Lavochkin | Successful | Entered Orbit 23 October 1975. Landed 05:17 UTC, 25 October 1975 | 65 Minutes on the surface | |
Venera 11 | 9 September 1978 | Proton-K/D-1 | Soviet Union | Lavochkin | Mostly Successful | Flyby on 25th of December. Lander landed at 03:24 UTC 25th December. Lander operated for 1 hour 35 minutes. | Multiple instrument failures on Lander | |
Venera 12 | 14 September 1978 | Proton-K/D-1 | Soviet Union | Lavochkin | Mostly Successful | Lander landed 03:20 UTC on 21 December 1978. | Both cameras on lander failed | |
Pioneer Venus 1 | 20 May 1978 | Atlas SLV-3D Centaur-D1AR | United States | NASA | Successful | Entered orbit on 4 December 1978, decayed on 22 October 1992 | ||
Pioneer Venus 2 | 8 August 1978 | Atlas SLV-3D Centaur-D1AR | United States | NASA | Successful | Entered the atmosphere on 9 December 1978; consisted of five spacecraft, one of which briefly continued transmitting after reaching the surface[9] | ||
Venera 13 | 30 October 1981 | Proton-K/D-1 | Soviet Union | Lavochkin | Successful | Lander landed at 03:20 UTC on 1 March 1982. | First recording of sounds from another planet. | |
Venera 14 | 4 November 1981 | Proton-K/D-1 | Soviet Union | Lavochkin | Successful | Lander landed on 5 March 1982. | ||
Venera 15 | 2 June 1983 | Proton-K/D-1 | Soviet Union | Lavochkin | Successful | Entered orbit 10 October 1983 | Operated until July 1984 | |
Venera 16 | 7 June 1983 | Proton-K/D-1 | Soviet Union | Lavochkin | Successful | Entered orbit 11 October 1983 | Operated until July 1984 | |
Vega 1 | 15 December 1984 | Proton-K/D-1 | Soviet Union | Lavochkin | Mostly successful | Landed 11 June 1985. Atmospheric probe deployed during entry operated for two days. | Main bus continued to explore comet 1P/Halley | |
Vega 2 | 21 December 1984 | Proton-K/D-1 | Soviet Union | Lavochkin | Successful | Landed 15 June 1985. Atmospheric probe deployed during entry operated for two days. | Main bus continued to explore comet 1P/Halley | |
Magellan | 4 May 1989 | Space Shuttle Atlantis | United States | NASA | Successful | Entered orbit 10 October 1990. | deorbited 13 October 1994 | |
Galileo | 18 October 1989 | Space Shuttle Atlantis | United States | NASA | Gravity assist at Venus | Flyby on 10 February | Continued to Jupiter | |
Cassini | 15 October 1997 | Titan IV(401)B | United States | NASA | Gravity assist at Venus | Flybys on 26 April 1998 and 24 June 1999, observed Venus during closest pass. | Continued to Saturn | |
MESSENGER | 3 August 2004 | Delta II 7925H | United States | NASA | Gravity assist at Venus | Flybys on 24 October 2006 and 5 June 2007, observed Venus during closest pass. | Continued to Mercury | |
Venus Express | 9 November 2005 | Soyuz-FG/Fregat | European Association | ESA | Successful | Entered orbit 11 April 2006. | Full communications lost on 28 November 2014 [10] | |
Akatsuki | 20 May 2010 | H-IIA 202 | Japan | JAXA | Operational | Flew past Venus on 6 December 2010 after failing to enter orbit. | Insertion was successfully reattempted on 7 December 2015. | |
IKAROS | 20 May 2010 | H-IIA 202 | Japan | JAXA | Flyby | Successful | Experimental solar sail released from the Akatsuki spacecraft. Flew past Venus on 8 December 2010 but did not make observations. | |
Shin'en | 20 May 2010 | H-IIA 202 | Japan | UNISEC | Flyby | Spacecraft failure | Communications never established after launch. Flew past Venus in December 2010 | |
Parker Solar Probe | 12 August 2018 | Delta IV Heavy/Star 48BV | United States | NASA | Operational | Flybys on 10 October 2018, 26 December 2019, 11 July 2020, 20 February 2021, 16 October 2021, 21 August 2023, and 6 November 2024 to lower perihelion for solar observation. | ||
BepiColombo | 20 October 2018 | Ariane 5 ECA | European Association | ESA | Operational | Flybys on 15 October 2020 and 11 August 2021, observed Venus during closest pass. | Continued to Mercury | |
Solar Orbiter | 10 February 2020 | Atlas V 411 | European Association | ESA | Operational | Flybys on 27 December 2020, 8 August 2021, 3 September 2022, 18 February 2025, 24 December 2026, 17 March 2028, 10 June 2029, and 2 September 2030 to adjust orbital inclination. |
Planned Possible Missions to Venus, Under Development
- Venera-D mission: a joint mission between Russia and the European Space Agency to study Venus' atmosphere and climate. Proposed for 2029.
- DAVINCI, NASA's Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging mission. Together with VERITAS.
- VERITAS, NASA's Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy mission. Proposed 2022*
- EnVision, ESA orbital mission for high resolution mapping and atmospheric studies. Proposed Launch 2031
- Rocket Lab MIT joint project, atmospheric probe. Proposed May 2023
- Shukrayaan-1 ISRO India, orbiter and atmospheric probe. Proposed December 2024