In the article, "The Challenge of Exploring Venus," the author's main purpose is to suggest that studying Venus is a worthy pursuit despite the dangers it presents. The author excells at backing up his claim by providing benefits of traveling to Venus, the dangers that it comes with, and how NASA has strived to make traveling there possible. The author does well at supporting his claim that traveling to Venus has value because scientists are aware of the dangers that are presented.

The author initially gives background information about the planet Venus and transitions to the factors of Venus that are dangerous. For example, the author says that Venus has "a thick atmosphere of almost 97 percent carbon dioxide" and "clouds of highly corrosive sulfuric acid." The author continues giving specific challenges by saying that Venus's temperatures "average over 800 degrees Fahrenheit, and the atmospheric pressure is 90 times greater than what we experience." Lastly, the author explains the geology and weather dangers such as "erupting volcanoes, powerful earthquakes, and frequent lightning strikes." The author provides these specific dangers in the article to show the readers that scientists are aware of the challenges they must deal with so that they are prepared.

Although the author presents these numerous challenges of Venus, the author does a fantastic job of immediately explaining why it is worthy to go there. For instance, the author explains that Venus "may well once have been the most Earth-like planet in our solar system." The author gives evidence of this claim by saying, "Venus is the closest planet to Earth in terms of density and size," and that is was "covered largely with oceans...and includes familiar features such as valleys, mountains, and craters." This evidence provides the readers with benefits of learning more about Venus. Furthermore, the author also explains that studying Venus is a worthy pursuit because it could "be our nearest option for a planetary visit." The author does execellent at supporting this idea and even gives evidence that this is not a fantasy.

The authors's claim of Venus being a worthy pursuit is realistic because the author provides ideas that NASA has developed to safely travel there. For example, the author gives evidence that NASA has worked on allowing "scientists to float above the fray." The author provides specifics of avoiding these risks saying, "...the air pressure would be close to that of sea level on Earth. Solar power would be plentiful, and radiation would not exceed Earth levels." This evidence supports the author's claim that scientists have taken serious consideration to study Venus.

In conclusion, the author suggests that studying Venus is a worthy pursuit because it is the most similar planet to Earth, so they should learn more about it. The author also includes the numerous factors that are dangerous when visiting Venus. However, the author emphasizes that these challenges and doubts should not limit the strive to gain more insight on Venus.