Venus Probe Set to Reach Target

Accommodate Students writes "The BBC is reporting on the first space mission to Venus in a decade, which is about to reach its target. From the article: 'On Tuesday morning, a European robotic craft will perform a 50-minute-long engine burn to slow its speed enough to be captured by Venus' gravity. Venus Express will orbit our nearest planetary neighbour for about 500 Earth days to study its atmosphere, which has undergone runaway greenhouse warming.' If all goes well, it could shed important light on climate change here on Earth."

Comments

Global warming and the Republican Denial

[iendedi]

And oh, is the Republican Party responsible for Global Warming now? That is such a tired cliche.

I don't think he was implying that the Republican Party is in any way responsible for global warming. I believe he was implying that the Republican Party is responsible for denying that there is any such thing as global warming. And yes, that denial is very tired even if it is cliche.

Re:Global warming, beside the point

[BigDogCH]

"Yet global warming is a fact, no-one disputes that (anymore)."

That is what I thought too, then I took a little survey. Very few of my coworkers, none of our distributors, and few of my family members believe it is happening.

One distributor said something which everyone really agreed with. "I can't imagine our temperature measurements from 100 years ago were all that accurate. What did they do, stick a thermometer down in a hole, light a match to read it, and estimate the temperature?"

I have no idea what the hole was for, but everyone seemed to agree with him. Plus, anyone who sees global warming for what it really is, is chastized as some crazy person, an untrue American, and a probably a terrorist.

I have tried clouding the issues with facts and figures, but they seem meaningless. I would guess it is just denial, so they don't have to feel guilty for driving their SUV's and Minivans over an hour to work.

Obligatory statement about Earth climate change

[amightywind]

If all goes well, it could shed important light on climate change here on Earth.

It is difficult to see how. Venus slow rotation rate, massive atmosphere, tiny inclination (-3 deg), and lack of a hydrologic cycle should make the climate very stable. The mission has a lot of merits on its own. Why make tenuous comparisons?

Why don't we have

[slapout]

permanent satellites orbiting all the planets and giving us constant feedback?