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Thu 10 Dec, 2020 03:42 am
Elon Musk recently revealed that Space X is about to send the crewed mission to Mars. A lot of people ask the same question all the time. Why NASA and Space X is so obsessed with Mars's colonization when Venus is more like Earth and the distance to this planet is shorter?
The answer is very simple.
The surface of Venus has a very thick atmosphere and pressure (equivalent to being thousands of feet underwater) and a surface temperature of nearly 900° F. Venus is about the same size as Earth but otherwise, Mars is a lot more similar. We have the ability to survive in enclosures on the Martian surface but Venus is beyond our capabilities.
Distance is not a good way to determine the difficulty of traveling to another planet, as objects in space do not experience friction or drag and so they do not suffer from being slowed down like travel on Earth. The difficulty is instead determined by the energy required to change orbits and, in this case, Mars and Venus both require about the same amount of energy to reach.
If you have something to add, please welcome)
@bearnard45,
Quote:Venus is more like Earth and the distance to this planet is shorter?
How in hell is Venus more like earth then Mars in any way???????
Next I had not run the numbers in many decades but off hand I do not think that the total delt V to reach Venus deeper in the sun G field then Mars and return to earth is any less then to reach Mars and return.
@BillRM,
The big similarity is gravitational field. Gravity on Mars is 0.4 that of Earth meaning that there could be
significant health effects to long term exposure there. Venus also has an atmosphere to protect from solar radiation (although that atmosphere is toxic and corrosive.) The reality is that neither one is particularly suited to human life. We might do better on one of the Jovian moons (although gravity is still a problem).
@engineer,
The extreme environmental conditions may prompt the evolution of those humans eventually to another species if they adapt, and those conditions don't kill them.
@BillRM,
https://www.reddit.com/r/venus/comments/k10oys/why_is_mars_better_than_venus/
Here you may get to know about similarities ( there are a lot of them much more than with Mars) and differences between Earth and Venus. Also, you will be able to get to know why Musk decided to make the mission to Mars and not Venus. I found this video recently and I swear it was very instructive.
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