Venus
The planet following Mercury on the Sunward side of Earth's orbit is Venus.[1] Among solar system planets, Venus records the highest surface heat.[1]
History
In 1962, Mariner 2 made humanity's first successful planetary flyby at Venus.[1]
Findings
Carbon dioxide makes up most of the thick air surrounding Venus.[2] No dynamo operates inside Venus, so the planet lacks an internally driven magnetic field.[2] JPL lists a mean radius of 6051.8 kilometres for Venus.[3] Venus turns in reverse, taking 243 Earth days to complete a rotation.[4]
Current status
NASA describes VERITAS and DAVINCI as missions being developed to explore Venus.[1]