Planetary Fact Files

Mercury	Venus	Earth	Mars	Jupiter	Saturn	Uranus	Neptune

Venus

This is the second planet from the Sun.

Unlike Mercury, Venus has an atmosphere that absorbs heat from the sun. This means that the surface temperature on Venus is hotter than on Mercury.

A year (single orbit of the sun) on Venus is 225 Earth days long. Yet, a day (single rotation of the planet) on Venus is 243 Earth days long. This means it has the longest planetary day in our Solar System.

It is a terrestrial planet (made up mostly of rock and/or metal) very similar to Earth in size and density.

Its atmosphere is 96% carbon dioxide. The density of the atmosphere would mean if we could walk on Venus it would be like trying to walk under water on Earth.

The clouds on Venus are made of sulfuric acid.

Missions

The first successful mission to collect data about Venus was Mariner 2 on a fly-by in 1962

Venera 7 (a Russian spacecraft) was the first spacecraft to successfully land on Venus in 1970, also making it the first to land on another planet

There have been more than twenty successful missions to Venus, although some were gravity assist fly-bys for missions to Mercury. This means it is the most visited planet (excluding earth) by our spacecraft in the solar system. Not all that surprising with it being the closest to us.

Questions

Use the information above to answer these questions:

1. Why will we not be landing humans on Venus anytime soon?
2. How could we use Venus as an example for why we should avoid increasing the greenhouse effect on Earth?
3. How long is 5 Earth years in Venus Days?
4. What would need to be take into consideration when choosing materials for a Venus rover?

Answers

To check your answers please see the answer sheet. This should only be used after attempting all questions.