For hundreds of millions of years, most of the water on Venus was liquid near the boiling point. But the water finally dried up, according to three scientists at NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California, south of San Francisco. Venusian seas dried up slowly as hydrogen eventually escaped into space. Oxygen formed compounds with other elements and was incorporated into the planet's crust.
Scientists say liquid water seems essential to life.
Fahrenheit because of intense pressure. But that may have been too hot for life to begin. If not, it probably did not last long enough for life to begin. Venus, nearly Earth's twin in size, has atmospheric pressure on the surface 90 times that of Earth. The temperature on the surface may be as high as 900 degrees Fahrenheit.