Missions to Mars might seem a dime a dozen these days, but why doesn’t anyone ever talk about going to Venus? Turns out, it’s really, really hard! Venus may be closer to Earth than Mars is, but its toxic atmosphere and hellish temperatures make it a challenging place to visit. But with recent advances in technology, it may not be impossible! In this episode, we talk with a lifelong proponent of Venus exploration about a new push for Venus missions and their chances for success. What can we learn, and what will we find? He might have some ideas!

Dr. Larry Esposito has been a professor of planetary science at CU Boulder since 1977. He was highly involved with the Cassini mission to Saturn, as well as the earlier Voyager and Pioneer missions. He even discovered a new ring around Saturn! Dr. Esposito has also been a participant in numerous US, Russian and European space missions and used the Hubble Space Telescope for its first observations of the planet Venus.