Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Overview
- Prologue
- A note on scientific units
- Acknowledgements
- Part I Views of Venus, from the beginning to the present day
- Chapter 1 The dawn of Venus exploration
- Chapter 2 Mariner and Venera
- Chapter 3 Pioneer Venus and Vega
- Chapter 4 Images of the surface
- Chapter 5 The forgotten world
- Chapter 6 Earth-based astronomy delivers a breakthrough
- Chapter 7 Can’t stop now
- Chapter 8 Europe and Japan Join In
- Part II The motivation to continue the quest
- Part III Plans and visions for the future
- Epilogue
- References and acknowledgements
- Appendix A Chronology of space missions to Venus
- Appendix B Data about Venus
- Index
- Plate section
- References
Chapter 5 - The forgotten world
from Part I - Views of Venus, from the beginning to the present day
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 September 2014
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Overview
- Prologue
- A note on scientific units
- Acknowledgements
- Part I Views of Venus, from the beginning to the present day
- Chapter 1 The dawn of Venus exploration
- Chapter 2 Mariner and Venera
- Chapter 3 Pioneer Venus and Vega
- Chapter 4 Images of the surface
- Chapter 5 The forgotten world
- Chapter 6 Earth-based astronomy delivers a breakthrough
- Chapter 7 Can’t stop now
- Chapter 8 Europe and Japan Join In
- Part II The motivation to continue the quest
- Part III Plans and visions for the future
- Epilogue
- References and acknowledgements
- Appendix A Chronology of space missions to Venus
- Appendix B Data about Venus
- Index
- Plate section
- References
Summary
The ‘evil twin’ syndrome
After Magellan, there was a long hiatus in the exploration of Venus by spacecraft that extended from the end of the radar-mapping mission in October 1994 until the arrival of Venus Express in April 2006. The campaign to kick-start that European mission relied in no small part on pointing out that our nearest neighbour had become the ‘Forgotten Planet’, rather as Mars did for a time after the successful landing of the Viking surface stations.
However, at the turn of the millennium, interest in comparative planetology was at an all-time high and it might have been logical to focus our available resources on Earth’s nearest neighbour and closest twin. The Venus Express advocates were also at pains to point out that one of the key comparative aspects was global climate change, with Venus as the ultimate example of a greenhouse-warmed, Earthlike planet.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Scientific Exploration of Venus , pp. 64 - 74Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2014