I'm Obsessed With Venus Now. Here's Why

I've been obsessed with Venus since I was a little kid. A planet almost the same size as Earth with almost the same composition ending up so different fascinated me, and still does.

I've been obsessed with it for years. I can't tell you how many times I've looked at those Venera images of the planet's surface, straining to make out any detail in that sky, wishing that those landers had lasted just a few hours, or even minutes longer and that its cameras had captured just a few more images. I really don't think the Soviets ever received the kudos from the West they were due for such a remarkable achievement so long ago. I can also imagine the weather forecast for Earth's 'evil' twin, and it might go something like this..." it looks like it's gonna be another long, hot scorcher of a day here on the 'love planet' folks(at 243 Earth days, Venus's exceedingly slow retrograde rotation means its day is longer than its year and the sun rises in the west and sets in the east). For all those sun worshipers out there, you're 'gonna be disappointed because those butterscotch overcast skies will persist all day long, and that mercury's 'gonna push well into the low 900s (Fahrenheit that is, more than enough to melt lead), but at least it's gonna be a real dry heat folks! Higher altitudes can expect ongoing showers(yep, sulfuric acid), but not to worry 'cuz there's little to no chance they'll reach us down here on the surface. By midday, we can expect the surface pressure to reach an uncomfortable 1330 PSI(roughly 92 times that of Earth's surface or the equivalent of 3000 ft. below sea level, well beyond the crush depth of a nuclear sub). It looks like those upper atmosphere winds will approach 200mph again today, but not to worry folks, 'cuz they'll remain a barely perceptible 2-3 mph down here on the surface...not even enough to fly a kite." It makes me grateful we live on such a relatively benign, 'garden' planet like Earth.

as a venus obsessive I loved this interview, thank you

A sizable moon might be very important to creating plate tectonics.

Love this bloke. Anyone so on top of their game inspires me no end.

Fantastic audio! I have never seen a creator interact with their audience and action their suggestions the way you do, Fraser. Hats off to you!

I'm listening to this now, and it's terrific. One favor, Fraser: could you find someone obsessed with Mercury and interview them for an hour, too? There's a lot of interesting facts and puzzles about Mercury too -- though probably not as many as for Venus!

Fraiser, your interviews are so frigging interesting and educational. Thank you.

I went through the same thing following the Phosphene 'discovery/non-discovery'. Now I sit waiting impatiently for VERITAS, DAVINCI, etc.

Dr Byrne is clearly passionate and knowledgeable but I want to give credit for what a great speaker he is.

Paul was awesome :) Another interesting interview.

I love your channel and discussions! Admittedly, I have zero math skills but I have a passion for space sciences and astronomy and your content is amazing even if I have to rewatch the videos a couple of times to fully grasp the content. I wanted to share how much I liked his passion for this pursuit, his depth of understanding about multiple disciplines, and the collaboration he’s involved in to advocate for and advance the study of Venus. (Edit) Elon has his BFR and Dr Byrne has his BABS. I say they’re the new wonder twins! Take us to Venus! I couldn’t agree more with investing a greater proportion of the budget on our Solar System. Even if we found another earth like inhabitable planet, we won’t be able to do anything about it. Focusing on our Solar System and learning g how to live in space, close to home, makes sense on so many levels… one of with being reality.

Absolutely thrilling, highest grade content! Thanks for your work.

What a phenomenal watch/listen. Never thought of Venus in this sort of perspective. Thanks for your time gentlemen

I could listen to Dr Byrne all day. Great stuff, thanks.

that interview would have been a good opportunity to ask about balloons. This guy seamed to know a lot about not just planed missions, but also what Ideas for missions there are. Since you r Obsessed with Venus now, there might be more opportunities like this. As stated before I am especially interested in the Idea of using differences in temperature for as a power source. short explanation of how it would work: the balloon would alternate between 2layers. On the lower layer it would boil the water use the steam for power and than as a lifting gas to get to the higher layer. on the higher layer it would use the lower temperatures to condensate the vapour back into water.

As an Irish person, hearing an Irish accent out of the blue on your podcast is as surprising as the 'wow' signal.

Magellan was a SAR, an imaging radar that used photoclynometry (shape from shading) to make a topo-surface (DEM). VERITAS is an InSAR, which directly measures topography, so it will be fabulous. Also: don't make you grad student look for volcanoes by hand. Use "Radon transformations" to find circular features (it's like an FFT finding frequency peaks that you cannot "see" with your eye).

Such a great interview and you absolutely should revisit this with Dr. Byrne in the future.

1:05:20 I love the idea of extended balloon missions, to see wind patterns and how it can passively navigate, and improve models for temperature and conditions by altitude. I like the idea of earth-like gravity, earth-like pressure, earth-like temperature, and some radiation protection. And some cameras to show if the vista of clouds is inspiring, or dull and oppressive? Could it be a place human base be interesting and inviting? I like the idea of trying to keep an automated greenhouse and see if we can get microbe or plants to grow in the balloon, see how long we can keep it alive. We've never tried to keep anything alive above low earth orbit before. So it could be a micro "biosphere 2" system with closed system of recycling wastes, but augment by supply inputs that can't be maintained, and extend the duration.