---
title: "Venus Blows Off Some Steam"
id: 117361
type: "post"
slug: "venus-blows-off-some-steam"
author: "NSE"
published: "2025-02-25T14:22:39+00:00"
modified: "2025-02-25T14:22:40+00:00"
canonical: "https://newspaceeconomy.ca/2025/02/25/venus-blows-off-some-steam/"
markdown_url: "https://newspaceeconomy.ca/2025/02/25/venus-blows-off-some-steam.md"
description: "Tall plumes of white vapor rise from the rocky Venusian surface in this April 19, 1977, artist’s concept. A little over a year later, NASA’s Pioneer Venus 1…"
language: "en-US"
category:
  - "Current News"
  - "Space Economy"
  - "Venus"
post_tag:
  - "Atmosphere"
  - "NASA"
  - "Spacecraft"
  - "Syndicated"
---

# Venus Blows Off Some Steam

[![In this artist's illustration, the surface of Venus has many peaks. White steam rises from the rocky, jagged surface. What looks like a large caldera is at the center of the image. The background is obscured in a red haze.](https://i0.wp.com/www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/arc-1977-ac77-0475-7orig.jpg?resize=696%2C464&ssl=1)](https://i0.wp.com/www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/arc-1977-ac77-0475-7orig.jpg?ssl=1)

*Tall plumes of white vapor rise from the rocky Venusian surface in this April 19, 1977, artist’s concept. NASA/Rick Guidice*

Tall plumes of white vapor rise from the rocky Venusian surface in this April 19, 1977, artist’s concept. A little over a year later, [NASA](https://www.nasa.gov/)’s [Pioneer Venus 1](https://science.nasa.gov/mission/pioneer-venus-1/) would launch as the first of a two-spacecraft orbiter-probe combination designed to study the atmosphere of Venus.

The first American spacecraft to orbit Venus, Pioneer Venus 1 used radar to map the surface of Venus. The probe found Venus to be generally smoother than Earth, though with a mountain higher than Mt. Everest and a chasm deeper than the Grand Canyon.

Thanks to exploration by Pioneer Venus 1 and other spacecraft like [Magellan](https://science.nasa.gov/mission/magellan/), [Galileo](https://science.nasa.gov/mission/galileo/), [Cassini](https://science.nasa.gov/mission/cassini/), and even the [Parker Solar Probe](https://science.nasa.gov/mission/parker-solar-probe/), we now have a much better view of what [the surface of Venus](https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/targetFamily/Venus) looks like.

*Image credit: [NASA](https://www.nasa.gov/)/Rick Guidice*

Source: [NASA](https://www.nasa.gov/)