Venus

Welcome to my Venus page.

Venus is known as the Earth's "twin" because the two planets are so similar in size. The diameter of Venus is about 7,520 miles approximately 400 miles smaller than that of the Earth. No other planet comes nearer to the Earth than Venus. At its closest approach, it is about 23.7 million miles away from Earth. Venus has a history of exploration. Venus was the first planet to be observed by a passing spacecraft. The unmanned U.S. spacecraft Mariner 2 passed within 21,600 miles of Venus on Dec. 14, 1962, after traveling through space for more than 31/2 months. It measured various conditions on and near Venus. For example, instruments carried by the spacecraft measured the high temperatures of the planet. Two unmanned Soviet spacecrafts "explored" Venus in 1966. Venera 2 passed within 15,000 miles of the planet on February 27, and Venera 3 crashed into Venus on March 1.