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]

Sources

  1. Venus | NASA Science. Licence: facts-only (Track B), no text or images reused. Attribution: NASA.
  2. Venus | NASA Science. Licence: facts-only (Track B), no text or images reused. Attribution: NASA.
  3. Planetary Physical Parameters | NASA JPL. Licence: facts-only (Track B), no text reused. Attribution: NASA/JPL-Caltech.
  4. Venus Express Frequently Asked Questions | European Space Agency. Licence: facts-only (Track B), no text reused. Attribution: European Space Agency.

Evidence as of 2026-11-01.