http://230nsc1.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Solar/venusenv.html
“The Atmosphere of Venus
The atmosphere of Venus is mostly carbon dioxide, 96.5% by volume. Most of the remaining 3.5% is nitrogen. Early evidence pointed to the sulfuric acid content in the atmosphere, but we now know that that is a rather minor constituent of the atmosphere.
The mass of the Venus atmosphere is about 90 times that of the Earth’s atmosphere. 90% of the Earth’s atmosphere is within 10 km of the surface, whereas you have to go to 50 km to capture 90% of the atmosphere of Venus. The clouds of Venus may extend from about 50 to 70 km and may be divided into three distinct layers. Below the clouds is a layer of haze down to about 30 km and below that it is clear.
Above the clouds there is a high-speed “jet stream” which blows from west to east at about 300-400 km/h. This wind is fastest at the equator and slows toward the poles, often giving a “V” type pattern in the visible cloud cover. At the surface there is almost no prevailing wind, with measured surface wind speeds typically less than 2 m/s.
High Temperature and Pressure on Venus
The temperature and pressure on the surface of Venus are so extreme that none of the armored Russian spacecraft of the Venera series lasted more than an hour on the surface. Within that short period, they and the multiprobe of the Magellan mission have provided us with all the direct data we have about the harsh Venusian surface. The pressure at the surface is about 90 Earth atmospheres! This is a pressure of about 900 Newtons per square centimeter or about 1300 pounds per square inch.
The surface temperature of about 750 K or about 480°C or nearly 900°F is hot enough to melt lead, hotter than any household oven temperature. This temperature destroyed the well-insulated and highly protected Russian electronics of the Venera surface craft within an hour.”
In other words, it’s difficult to keep ones skirt from blowing up and difficult to keep one’s spaceship from melting down.
Seems like I read that the density of the atmosphere is so great that it refracts the light in a way that it would seem like you were standing at the bottom of a bowl with the sides rising up around you to the horizon.
sounds like they’ve got global warming there - wonder if they need a boatload of climate scientists and one former VP to help figure it out?
Isn't that what hit John King in the face at Thursday's debate?