The author states that Venus may have been like Earth at one point. Venus may have evidence on the surface about what could have happened to cause it to be inhospitable. Also at some point humans are probably going to run into other challenges like Venus. These claims are some of the reasons the author thinks Venus is a worthy pursuit despite the dangers it presents.

According to some scientists Venus may have been like Earth at one point. If it really was like Earth before there could be much to learn about it. We could find out what the atmosphere was like before it got too extreme. There may be evidence of life that was once on the planet. In paragraph two the suthor states "Venus is the closest planet to Earth in terms of density and size¨ This is a reason many people believe Venus could have been even more of a twin to Earth than it is now.

On the surface there could be the evidence we need to know if there was life forms on Venus. In paragraph five it is said ¨The planet has a surface of rocky sediment and includes familiar features such as valleys, mountains, and craters.¨ This statement makes it seem that Venus really was like Earth at one point and may have proof if we could land long something on Venus long enough to study the land.

In the future humans will continue to explore the solar system and will very likely run into a planet like Venus again. So if humans can learn how to study planets like Venus or land on them then they would have the knowledge needed for the next planet. If we have experince with planets with extreme conditions before finding another planet that also has extreme conditons we could get more information from the plant and at a lot faster rate.

In conclusion, the author makes multiple points that support their idea of wanting Venus to be studied. Venus possibly being like Earth at one point and giving us experince of planets like that are very important to the author.