SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE - One of the main arguments for studying other planets is for what they can tell us about Earth. Did or do they harbor life? What clues can they offer about our planet’s past? If scientists want to investigate an Earth-like planet, one convenient opportunity is Venus.
The similar size and planetary composition of Venus and Earth make them twin planets. Like Earth, Venus is actively evolving. But up close, both planets are nothing alike. While Earth teems with life, our neighbor seems determined to quash it. These divergent stories make Venus all the more fascinating to scientists.
In 1982, the first color images of Venus’ surface that came from the Venera 13 and 14 probes only confirmed its desolate landscapes. Scientists agree that no liquid water exists on the surface.
While the Venera missions turned fiction authors away from Venus, they threw open the doors to scientific interest. “They were always an incredible turning point,” says Stephen Kane, a planetary astrophysicist at the University of California, Riverside. “I think [the photographs are] one of the key milestones of our civilization.”