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Why shouldn't it be? Except for the question of the presence of life Venus is a much more exciting planet to study, with thick atmosphere with high-speed winds

Why shouldn't it be? Except for the question of the presence of life Venus is a much more exciting planet to study, with thick atmosphere with high-speed winds and it's shrouded surface. It might be suitable for human colonization too — at 50 km altitude the gravity, pressure and temperature are almost the same as on Earth. Also, most of the missions were Soviet, so it might be that USSR wanted to secure the lead in Venus exploration.

deletes 13y ago
At current technology level Mars seems an easier option. The problem with Venus is an atmosphere containing sulfuric acid and winds reaching 300 km/h, where failure results in a descent to an approximation of hell.
- summerdown2 13y ago
  I went to a lecture a while ago by Geoffrey Landis, one of the people behind the moon lander. He suggested that Venus was actually easier than Mars if you imagine a floating capsule a kilometer above the surface. The atmosphere at that level is room temperature, and the pressure is about 1 bar. The only problem is sulfuric acid, and as he put it, "space has lots of things more deadly than sulfuric acid, which is something we've had a lot of experience dealing with." Imagine springing a leak on Mars. You'd be rushing to fix it before everyone dies. In the Venusian clouds, the pressure would be the same, inside and out, and you'd simply patch it then clean up the mess.
  - deletes 13y ago
    Real life Bespin does sound tempting. I don't see how a leak in Venus differs much from one on Mars. A leak won't immediately exhaust the air, in the worst case( neglecting explosion, and a leak is always confined with sections( as in would be in Venus ) ) you will get a few minutes to get into a suit and repair the problem. On the other hand sulfuric acid is nasty, breathing it causes long term problems. And what happens to equipment when the acid gets inside, while you are repairing, where there isn't a plastic/ceramic shield. For external repair you will definitely also require a full body specialized suit. But let's say we would have guaranteed protection against it. What do you do with 300+km/h winds? I'm sure there is turbulence and gusts that would wreck the blimp.

deletes 13y ago

At current technology level Mars seems an easier option. The problem with Venus is an atmosphere containing sulfuric acid and winds reaching 300 km/h, where failure results in a descent to an approximation of hell.

summerdown2 13y ago
I went to a lecture a while ago by Geoffrey Landis, one of the people behind the moon lander. He suggested that Venus was actually easier than Mars if you imagine a floating capsule a kilometer above the surface. The atmosphere at that level is room temperature, and the pressure is about 1 bar. The only problem is sulfuric acid, and as he put it, "space has lots of things more deadly than sulfuric acid, which is something we've had a lot of experience dealing with." Imagine springing a leak on Mars. You'd be rushing to fix it before everyone dies. In the Venusian clouds, the pressure would be the same, inside and out, and you'd simply patch it then clean up the mess.
- deletes 13y ago
  Real life Bespin does sound tempting. I don't see how a leak in Venus differs much from one on Mars. A leak won't immediately exhaust the air, in the worst case( neglecting explosion, and a leak is always confined with sections( as in would be in Venus ) ) you will get a few minutes to get into a suit and repair the problem. On the other hand sulfuric acid is nasty, breathing it causes long term problems. And what happens to equipment when the acid gets inside, while you are repairing, where there isn't a plastic/ceramic shield. For external repair you will definitely also require a full body specialized suit. But let's say we would have guaranteed protection against it. What do you do with 300+km/h winds? I'm sure there is turbulence and gusts that would wreck the blimp.