A new NASA mission studying Venus is set to unravel the differences between the volatile planet and Earth.
It will help scientists understand why a planet that seems so like the Earth can give rise to conditions so hellishly different.
And if the new NASA project VERITAS – which stands for Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography and Spectroscopy – can discover why Venus is the way it is, we could be closer to understanding which planets orbiting distant stars could be home to alien life.
While the Earth is home to all currently known living things in the galaxy, Venus, is a fiery hellscape where even the best-protected human could live for mere minutes.
Venus is almost exactly the same size as Earth and, like our home planet, lies in the Sun’s "Goldilocks Zone" where life should be possible.
But instead Venus is the hottest planet in the solar system. It may not be the planet closest to the sun, but its ultra-dense atmosphere traps heat with a greenhouse effect.
Temperatures on the surface of Venus can reach almost 900 degrees Fahrenheit – higher than the melting point of lead. No man-made probe has so far endured more than a few hours of those conditions.
There is virtually no water on Venus, and the thick clouds rain sulphuric acid. Add the atmospheric pressure at the surface – over 90 times that of Earth – and you can see why the planet’s original name of Lucifer is a good fit.
VERITAS will be the first mission to study the Venusian surface since 1994. Very few probes have successfully landed on the planet's surface.
In December 1978 an unmanned Russian probe, Venera 12, set the record for endurance of any man-made object on the surface of Venus. It ceased transmitting after 110 minutes.
Set to launch in 2026 VERITAS will use multiple sensors to try to solve the riddle of the twin planets’ dramatic differences.
Using radar, infrared spectrometers and gravity meters VERITAS will create the most detailed map of the mysterious cloud-shrouded planet yet.
“Venus is like this cosmic gift of an accident,” said Suzanne Smrekar, principal VERITAS researcher at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
“You have these two planetary bodies, Earth and Venus, that started out nearly the same, but have gone down two completely different evolutionary paths," says Dr Smrekar, "but we don’t know why.”
“To unwrap the mysteries of Venus we have to look under the hood at Venus’ interior; it is the engine for global geologic and atmospheric evolution,” she added
She continued: “Are Venus and Earth fundamentally unique worlds? Or are the differences between these ‘twins’ only cosmetic?
“Answering this question is key to understanding what makes other rocky planets habitable and, ultimately, emerge with life.”