Speakers:      Dr. Erika Kohler and Dr. James O'Rourke

Imagine a planet with daytime temperatures reaching 900 °F, hot enough to melt lead.  The air pressure at the surface is equivalent to being 3,000 feet underwater.  The atmosphere is so thick you’d have to push your way through it. Instead of breathable air, a poisonous smog of CO2 and sulfuric acid surrounds you.  This is Venus, Earth’s “twin” planet.

Although Mars has seen a lot of missions in the last 20 years, Venus has seen relatively few.  But that’s about to change because NASA and ESA are sending THREE new missions to Venus!  Drs. Erika Kohler and James O'Rourke, two preeminent Venusians (Venerians?) will help us to understand more about Earth's twin sister planet, its bizarre geology, poisonous atmosphere, and evidence why it is so inhospitable to life today...or is it?

Professor Christian Ready
Lecturer and Director, Watson-King Planetarium