I could agree with a compromise - a research station in orbit, and then mechanised exploration and 'settling' of the atmosphere itself. If there's any chance a

I could agree with a compromise - a research station in orbit, and then mechanised exploration and 'settling' of the atmosphere itself. If there's any chance at all now that Venus might have life, I'd think it worthy of about the same amount of funding Mars missions have had in their search for organics. Atmospheric Venutian [life] could be very interesting and potentially very useful. If it's found to exist in any way, I'd not be too surprised to see an entirely privately-funded* mission in a couple of decades. Venus is energetically cheaper to get to versus Mars too. I think it's a compelling target - 'Tomorrow's Antarctica'. You've got to have people there to do the science stuff. - ed * as in Biotech etc funded.