Four years ago a team of scientists found potential evidence of life in the atmosphere of our closest planetary neighbor, Venus, despite the metal-meltingly hot temperature and crushing pressure experienced on the surface; however, this discovery was followed shortly afterward by a dismissal of the claims, after subsequent searches failed to yieldread more
Earth’s closest celestial neighbors—Mars and Venus—couldn’t be more different in regards to the environments that each planet is home to, but two new discoveries—an ancient glacier at Mars’ equator and active volcanism on Venus—just serve to accentuate the diversity that exists amongst our planetary siblings. First up, ice: evidence ofread more
For the last few decades NASA has been leaving few stones on the surface of Mars unturned—quite literally in some cases—in the search for extraterrestrial life within our own Solar System. But now an international team of researchers has found what may be a biosignature in the atmosphere of theread more
To say the environment on the surface of Venus is extreme might be viewed as an understatement by some: the hottest planet in the Solar System’s air cooks at a scorching 462ºC (864ºF), under crushing atmospheric pressure that is 92 times greater than Earth’s — and that’s not counting the corrosive effects of the sulphuric acid lacing the clouds. The result is an environment that severely limits the lifespan of manmade probes sent there, that are typically measured in timescales of mere hours, as opposed to the years-long missions enjoyed by Mars rovers.
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