A few days ago, the National Science Foundation released this new image of Venus that was created by Earth-based radar. Using radar is one of the few ways to get surface measurements of the planet because of the thick carbon dioxide clouds.

We enjoyed this photo, but did a little more investigation to find what the surface of Venus looks like, from the surface.

Between 1961 - 1984, the Soviet Union sent 10 probes to the surface of venus. The Russian Venera 13 spacecraft landed on Venus in 1982 and survived the intense pressure and heat for a little over 2 hours. Take a look at the rocky surface, topographic changes, and the overcast sky provided by the dense carbon-dioxide clouds. The strange looking metal components are pieces of the probe that were removed to reveal experiments after the probe landed.

With the exception of missing trees, buildings, and people, this doesn't look too dissimilar from some areas on Earth. Except the photo doesn't show a thermometer -> it's 450 degrees celsius here!



NASA also sent a few satellites to Venus to explore the atmosphere and the surface. The photo below shows the rolling hills and a small mountain in the background which is colored to better reveal the topography. 


This image from Venera 10 shows a close-up view of small, sharp rocks in front of the lander. They look similar to sharp, volcanic rocks that we find on Earth.


Scientists have even designed landers and rovers that could survive the intense heat of Venus. In this artist's impression below, the small rover is cooled by a Stirling Cooler which lowers the temperature from the 450 degrees celsius surface temperature to a temperature of 200 degrees celsius which is more manageable for the electronics.