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We all think of Mars as the next step in crewed space exploration and the first step in extraterrestrial colonization. But should we? Maybe there'sa better option a little closer by.
PBS's terrific series Space Time has tackled the subject of how we might go about colonizing Venus, but this new video puts it head-to-head with Mars on the "how quickly and how painfully will it kill you" scale. Both will kill you to death at the drop of a hat, but despite the fact that Venus is hellishly hot and rains sulfuric acid, it's got advantages over Big Red in more ways than one.
While venturing outside on either planet will cause you to pass out almost immediately and then die shortly thereafter, Venus's high points include an atmosphere that can better protect you from radiation and a gravity that's almost identical to Earth's. And it's closer too. I'm not quite sure I'd rather live on a cloud city where it rains acid over the long-time sci-fi future of colonizing the fourth rock from the sun, but I will say it sounds better than I expected.
Source: PBS Space Time
