Exploring Venus: A New Era in Planetary Science
Venus, Earth's "sister planet," offers crucial insights into planetary evolution, climate change, and habitability. NASA's Venus Exploration Analysis Group outlines a bold strategy with missions like VERITAS, DAVINCI, and EnVision, aiming to unravel Venus's past and its divergence from Earth. Advances in technology and international collaboration are key to exploring its extreme environment, with long-term plans including sample-return missions and human exploration.
Exploring Diverging Worlds: The Habitability of Venus, Earth, and Mars
Stephen R. Kane and colleagues explore why Earth supports life while Venus and Mars do not by examining their atmospheres, geology, and solar influences. Earth’s stability stems from processes that balanced its climate, supporting liquid water and life. Venus, with a runaway greenhouse effect, and Mars, which lost its atmosphere, exemplify extreme planetary conditions. Their findings offer insights into the “habitable zone” and guide the search for life on exoplanets using Venus, Earth, and Mars as models of diverse evolutionary paths.