When, if ever

When plans for exploring the Solar System with manned spacecraft are discussed, Venus tends to get short shrift. In the near term, of course it is natural to talk about a return to the Moon and the establishment of a manned base there. The short journey times and low gravity are just two of many reasons this is the easiest and least expensive option for human exploration in the near term. It is also a good place to practise survival techniques and develop procedures for living successfully in space before venturing further afield. Also, of course, there is much about the Moon that is of scientific and practical interest that makes exploration still a valid objective 40 years after the first Apollo landing.

Once humans are permanently established on the Moon, almost everyone thinks of pressing on to Mars. Often the two are programmatically linked, with the lunar landings seen explicitly as a stepping stone on the way to the red planet. This was the case for the NASA initiative started under President George W. Bush, and recently terminated by President Obama. Mars remains a long-term goal in Europe under the Aurora programme. The reasons for favouring Mars over Venus are pretty much taken for granted: men and women can land there and explore in the traditional manner, driving buggies, using hammers and drills, climbing mountains and cliffs or descending into deep valleys. It is fairly easy to see, in outline at least, how they could build permanent bases and live in them, becoming self-supporting by growing food and mining ice deposits for water, possibly even making their own rocket fuel. No one would think of trying any of that on Venus.