Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
It's Our Venus, It's Our Fire, It's Scientists' Desire
An image of Venus, taken on June 8, 2020, taken from NASA's Mariner 10 spacecraft.
(
NASA/JPL-Caltech
)
We’ve walked on the moon, studied Mars and mapped the planets. Now, another planet in our solar system will receive some much deserved attention. Drumroll, please... it's Venus.
Listen
• 1:33
What We Hope To Learn From Two Planned Missions To Venus
Called the Morning Star, the Evening Star and, occasionally, Earth's evil twin, Venus is only one step closer to the sun than our own planet.
Last week, NASA sent astronomers and space lovers into a frenzy when the agency announced it will launch two new spacecraft missions to study the planet. Plenty of challenges lay ahead, so don't plan on heading to Venus any time soon.
Support for LAist comes from
"Venus has a very very thick atmosphere pressure on the surfaces, like the pressure 3,000 feet under the surface of the ocean on Earth so it’s more like a submarine environment than what we think of as an atmosphere. But wait! Don’t order yet! Venus has a runaway greenhouse that has lifted its surface temperature is about 900°F, hot enough to melt lead. But wait! Venus has a sulfuric acid cloud," says Bruce Betts, the Chief Scientist for The Planetary Society, the world’s largest space interest group.
Eons ago, the second planet from the sun experienced its own global warming. Scientists hope studying Venus can help us understand the impact of unchecked climate change.
"[Venus] is an extreme case because it completely lost the oceans and then it lost the main way the carbon dioxide is sequestered," Betts says. "Infrared heat has trouble getting out, so you raise these temperatures and get very, very hot. So that same type of thing we’re seeing on Earth in more subtle but nonetheless serious factors that come with climate change."
If there’s life, or evidence of extinct life, on Venus's now-inhospitable surface, the planet might have something to tell us about Earth's evolution. But we won’t know for sure until we get there.
NASA plans to explore our sweltering next-door neighbor in a series of dual missions scheduled to launch between 2028 and 2030.
Reporting from planet earth, this is LAist.
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
With less to prove than LA, the city is becoming a center of impressive culinary creativity. -
Nearly 470 sections of guardrailing were stolen in the last fiscal year in L.A. and Ventura counties.
-
Monarch butterflies are on a path to extinction, but there is a way to support them — and maybe see them in your own yard — by planting milkweed.
-
With California voters facing a decision on redistricting this November, Surf City is poised to join the brewing battle over Congressional voting districts.
-
The drug dealer, the last of five defendants to plead guilty to federal charges linked to the 'Friends' actor’s death, will face a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison.
-
The weather’s been a little different lately, with humidity, isolated rain and wind gusts throughout much of Southern California. What’s causing the late-summer bout of gray?
Best of LAist