Venus

Rocket Lab has plans for a private mission to Venus in 2023. New Atlas spoke with the company’s CEO Peter Beck about the road ahead, his long-time fascination with our nearest planetary neighbor and the machinery that he plans to use to explore

While Mars may be the most likely place we might find life beyond Earth, it's not alone. High in the atmosphere of Venus, astronomers have made the startling discovery of a gas called phosphine – a strong contender for a sign of microbial life.

An international team of scientists led by Takeshi Horinouchi of Hokkaido University suggests that a atmospheric equivalent of tidal waves may be responsible for the super-rotation of the atmosphere of Venus, which acts as a giant heat engine.

NASA wants help designing a vital element of a rover that could one day explore Earth’s hellish twin, Venus. The component would allow the rover to safely explore the surface, and must be capable of enduring a brutal alien environment.

A new study suggests that Venus may not be as geologically dead as we thought. Infrared spectra and laboratory work show that there may be volcanic activity on the planet, with some lava flows being only a few years old.

This week we continue to chart the fascinating history of deep space exploration with a look at the Soviet space probes built to study Venus.

Three new, roughly Earth-sized exoplanets have been found orbiting a nearby star. Named L 98-59b, c and d, the small worlds were spotted by NASA’s TESS, as part of a larger haul of data that finally brings the total tally past the milestone of 4,000 exoplanets discovered to date.

Studies have shown that billions of years ago Venus might have been just as habitable as Earth. So what happened? New research has found that if ancient Venus was home to vast oceans, tidal drags may have slowed down the rotation of the planet and let it bake into the lifeless world we know today.

Saturn may sport the most famous rings in the solar system, but it’s far from the only thing with some bling. Now, two new studies have found evidence of new rings in the inner solar system – a dusty one in the orbit of Mercury and a new set of asteroids following Venus’ path around the Sun.

ESA is examining three space mission concepts to fill the fifth medium class mission slot in its Cosmic Vision science program. The missions under consideration include a next-generation infrared space telescope, a surveyor craft that seeks out transient high-energy events, and a new Venus orbiter.

A new study from an international team of scientists proposes that microbial life could exist in the clouds of Venus. The exciting hypothesis suggests mysterious dark patches seen in the atmosphere could be something akin to algae blooms seen in oceans on Earth.

Google Maps is both amazing and a little terrifying at times. Not content to just map out almost every corner of the Earth, Google has now added the ability to explore 12 other worlds in our little corner of the galaxy.