VENUS

VENUS · Your travel guide to the Solar System · DEFINITION The second planet from the Sun and the Earth's nearest planetary neighbour REASONS TO VISIT Experience the longest day of any planet, a staggering 243 Earth days! The only planet where the Sun rises in the west and sets in the east See volcanoes 100km wide and five km high But watch out for the poisonous Venusian atmosphere - it's full of sulphuric acid NUMBER OF MOONS · 0 Solar System Jigsaw Can you build the Solar System? WHAT TO SEE If you can stand the hostile conditions on this planet's surface then there's lots to see, including volcanoes, craters and spectacular landscapes. Mead Crater The Mead Crater is big, even by Venusian standards - a breathtaking 280km across. This is one of the best preserved large craters in the Solar System. At first glance, the Mead Crater looks similar to the many volcanoes on Venus. But we can tell that it's a meteor crater by the rings of debris surrounding it. Like all craters on Venus, Mead is relatively young. Unlike other nearby planets, the surface of Venus shows no evidence of heavy bombardment in its early history. So the entire planet's surface must have reformed within the last 500 million years. SPOTTING VENUS FROM THE EARTH Besides the Sun and the Moon, Venus is the brightest object in the sky. It cannot be seen in the middle of the night. But you can try and spot it near the horizon at sunrise or sunset. Because it is closer to the Sun than the Earth, Venus shows phases, like the Moon. Sometimes these can be seen with the naked eye. But even through a telescope, Venus reveals few secrets. The whole planet is surrounded by a thick blanket of clouds. So the only way to discover what lies beneath is to go there. TRAVEL INFORMATION Journey time · 3.5 Earth months 1 Venusian year · 225 Earth days Contacting home · Time lag = 1000 seconds Before you leave Make sure that your spaceship has full thermal insulation, otherwise Venus' dense atmosphere will cause the hull to overheat as it enters the atmosphere. Your spaceship will also need to withstand enormous pressure changes. Not only will it have to deal with the vacuum of space, but the craft will also need to cope with high pressures once it lands. The pressure of the air on the surface of Venus is equal to that one km below the oceans on Earth. When you arrive The approach to Venus may be a little rocky, as the winds in the upper atmosphere can reach 350km per hour. However, there is little breeze at ground level and temperatures soar. Venus' thick atmosphere creates a strong greenhouse effect, causing temperatures to rise to a sweltering 464ºC. A word of warning. Venus has no magnetic field, so it's easy to get lost among the thick clouds of sulphuric acid as you fly in. LOCAL HISTORY Venus was named after the Roman goddess of beauty. In keeping with this theme, virtually all the features on the planet are given female names.