Venus: Basic Physical Characteristics
Venus is the second planet from the Sun and the brightest natural object in the night sky after the Moon. Its mean radius is about 6,052 kilometers, making it roughly 95 percent the size of Earth, and its mass is about 81.5 percent of Earth's, according to NASA planetary fact sheets NASA Venus Overview.
Venus orbits the Sun at an average distance of about 108 million kilometers, with an orbital period of roughly 225 Earth days. Its dense atmosphere is composed of about 96.5 percent carbon dioxide and 3.5 percent nitrogen, with surface pressure around 92 times that of Earth, creating extreme greenhouse conditions.
Venus Surface and Climate Data
Venus has a mean surface temperature of about 464 degrees Celsius, hot enough to melt lead, with a retrograde rotation that takes about 243 Earth days to complete one turn. The planet lacks a global magnetic field and shows evidence of ancient volcanic activity and tectonic features such as coronae and tesserae.
Spacecraft missions including NASA's Magellan and ESA's Venus Express have mapped the surface and studied atmospheric dynamics, revealing a climate dominated by sulfuric acid clouds and superrotating upper atmosphere winds ESA Venus Express. Current and planned missions focus on understanding geological history, atmospheric chemistry, and potential past habitability.
Venus Exploration and Current Missions
NASA's DAVINCI+ and VERITAS missions are scheduled for launch in the late 2020s to study Venus's atmosphere and surface in detail, while ESA's EnVision mission targets the planet's geology and climate evolution NASA DAVINCI+. These missions aim to determine whether Venus once had liquid water and how its climate diverged from Earth's.
Private and international efforts, including Rocket Lab's Venus Life Finder mission concept and India's Shukrayaan orbiter, reflect growing interest in Venus exploration Rocket Lab Venus Mission. The focus is on atmospheric sampling, surface imaging, and long-term climate monitoring to advance comparative planetology and planetary science.