Tuesday, March 31, 2026

KYTHERA Mission Concept Targets 200-Day Mission to Venus Surface

Panoramic image of the Venusian surface taken by the Soviet Venera 13 lander in 1982. (Credit: Russian Academy of Sciences / Ted Stryk)

The planet Venus is often called “Earth’s twin” due to the similar sizes, but the reality couldn’t be farther from the truth. Unlike Earth, which is hospitable to an estimated billions of lifeforms, Venus is not hospitable to life as we know it, at least on its surface. This is because the surface of Venus not only experiences an average temperature of 464 degrees Celsius (867 degrees Fahrenheit), but it also has crushing pressures approximately 92 times of Earth, or equivalent to approximately 1 kilometer (3,000 feet) below the ocean. These extreme surface conditions are why the longest spacecraft to survive on the Venusian surface is just over two hours.



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