Fact Sheet
Dusky Skies
The sky glows orange in this artist's concept of the atmosphere of Venus. Much of what we know about the atmosphere, include its globe-encircling clouds, came from two Soviet missions that dropped balloons into the atmosphere in 1985. Each floated about a quarter of the way around the planet before expiring after about two days. The clouds are made of sulfuric acid and other toxic chemicals, while the surface temperature is more than 850 degrees Fahrenheit. [ESA]
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