Have you ever been interested in studying astronomy or space sciences. Well, across the nation, people who work for NASA expore space or study planets to find. Of the many planets in the solar system, this essay analyzes the planet Venus and why we should study it. In the article, The challenges of Exploring Venus, the author clearly supports the idea that studying Venus is a worthy pursuit despite the dangers it presents by disscusing the three main reasons based on it's distance from Earth, Earth like features, and the possibility of sending a space mission there.

First of all, the author clearly discusses that we should study Venus because it's similarity and proximity to Earth. The article states, "Often referred to as Earth's

"twin", "Venus is the closest plannet to earth in terms of density and size, and occasionally the closest in distance" (2). Based on this quote, this implies that Venus may have similar shape and size to earth. Because it's sometimes the closest distance to earth based on orbit, it may be the most convient to visit compared to the other planets in the solar system.

The next to study Venus is that scientists have found ways to send vehicles carrying humans to study Venus. The article explains how NASA has an idea of sending humans to study Venus when the article states, "Imagine a blimp like vehicle hovering 30 or so miles above the roiling Venusian landscape" (5). In this quote, this means that people would ride in a spacecraft close enough to Venus to see the surface. Also, the article contains an anology when it explains how "a vehicle hovering over Venus would avoid the unfriendly ground conditions by staying up and our of their way" similar to how "jet planes travel at a higher altitude to fly over many storms" (5). Based on this quote, the view out of this spacecraft looking down at Venus may be similar to viewing out of a jetplane window on Earth, which is what you may expect out of this space journey.

The final reason to study Venus is because the planet has similar topography and may have had conditions similar to earth. The author clearly describes Earth's and Venus's similarity to Earth when the article says, "Long ago, Venus was probably covered largely with oceans and could have supported various forms of life just like Earth. Because of the possibility that Venus has or used to support living, it would be worth studying Venus, which ties back to the main idea of why it's a worthy pursuit. If we find this to be true, then maybe one day we'll live on Venus.

The author did a great job of supporting the idea that Venus is a worthy pursuit based on the ideas of Venus's proximity to Earth, the possibility of life on Venus, and building a vehicle to ship humans to explore Venus without landing on the surface. Maybe one day we'll actually push forward with this pursuit of studying Venus and find a way to possibly get there. Overall, studying astronomy may help us understand the uncertainty of our neighboring planets, which may give us the oppertunity to find another world to inhabit.