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NASA Wanted Astronauts to View Venus Up-Close

• robryan 14y ago
  This could still be a decent idea, a good way to test long term spaceflight outside of low earth orbit without the additional burden of executing a landing and getting them back off the surface for a Mars mission.
  • InclinedPlane 14y ago
    Erm, not exactly. The problem with interplanetary manned missions is radiation from solar flares. The closer you get to the Sun the worse off the problem gets. A Venus mission with the Apollo hardware would have almost certainly killed the crew due to radiation exposure. A better protected spacecraft is possible but that requires a fairly significant amount of mass.
• vbtemp 14y ago
  Cheesy linkbait. Title: "NASA Wanted Astronaughts to View Venus Close Up" Body: "Alas, it was a “thought mission,” a plan designed to showcase the durability and flexibility of Apollo hardware. The report was prepared by Bellcom, a division of AT&T ..." C'mon.