Venus is in some important respects the most Earthlike planet we know of, and yet it’s atmosphere, climate, and surface conditions have evolved in extremely different ways from those of Earth. Understanding this divergence has important implications for the evolution of climate, tectonics, and life on planets throughout the universe. David Grinspoon will review the history of spacecraft exploration of Venus and describe several future missions which have been proposed.

Department of Physics & Astronomy colloquium, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH.

Recorded November 2, 2018.