Last week we imagined what it would be like to stand on the surface of Mercury. Let’s move a little closer to home and talk about what it would be like to visit Earth’s closest planetary neighbor: Venus.
The surface of Venus would be a rough place to find yourself. The atmosphere is so thick that you wouldn’t see much. If you could, you’d likely see craters, volcanoes, even massive lakes of lava. Hopefully you missed one of those when you landed.
And let’s talk about that atmosphere for a second. I mentioned it was thick, so thick in fact that the air would literally crush you. It would be as if you dived down to more than 3,000 feet underwater here on Earth. Don’t try that.
Instead of oxygen, you’d be breathing carbon dioxide, with occasional clouds of very nasty sulfuric acid wafting by. Sulfuric acid is highly corrosive. It will burn holes in your skin, eyes, lungs, anything it comes in contact with.
Despite the fact that Mercury is closer to the Sun, Venus holds the distinction of being the hottest planet in our Solar System. This is because of the greenhouse effect on overdrive. The atmosphere traps all the heat beneath it, driving temperatures to over 870 degrees Fahrenheit on the surface. And it never cools off. Day or night, you’re going to fry. And it takes 243 Earth days for Venus to rotate once, so that’s a long day or night.
So, if you found yourself on Venus, your skin, eyes, nose, and lungs would feel like they’re on fire from the noxious air around you as your body would be literally burning from the metal melting temperatures. It would be a race to see if you’d be suffocated or crushed to death first from an atmosphere that’s 90 times heavier than Earth’s. And all that if you managed to not land in a lava plain or volcano.
Long story short, your visit to Venus would introduce you to pain you almost can’t imagine. The only upside is that you’d be dead pretty quick, so let’s be grateful for the little mercies.