Venus
Discover amazing facts about Venus, the hottest planet in our solar system and Earth's mysterious twin
Venus is covered in thick, poisonous clouds that trap heat like a greenhouse
Venus is often called Earth's "twin" because the two planets are almost exactly the same size! But don't let that fool you - Venus is nothing like our home planet. It's the hottest world in our solar system, even hotter than Mercury, which is much closer to the Sun. Venus is so hot that it could melt lead, and it's covered in thick, yellow clouds made of acid that would be deadly to humans.
What makes Venus so incredibly hot is something called the "greenhouse effect." The thick atmosphere traps heat from the Sun like a blanket, making the surface hot enough to glow like the inside of an oven. Venus also has another strange feature - it spins backwards! While most planets spin in the same direction, Venus decided to be different and rotates the opposite way.
Scientists have sent many spacecraft to study Venus, but it's one of the toughest places to explore in our solar system. The thick atmosphere, crushing pressure, and extreme heat destroy most spacecraft within hours of landing. The Soviet Union's Venera missions were the first to successfully land on Venus and send back pictures from the surface.
NASA is planning some exciting new missions to Venus! The DAVINCI mission will drop a probe through Venus's thick atmosphere to study the air and take pictures as it falls toward the surface. Another mission called VERITAS will use advanced radar to create detailed maps of Venus's surface and look for active volcanoes. These missions will help us understand why Venus became so different from Earth, even though they started out so similar!
