>>> Mark Bloss on Venus 
 MB> The surface of the Earth was once that hot.  But really now, the
 MB> surface of Venus is really only averaging a temperature closer to
 MB> 450 degrees F.
 
 KK> I may have misremembered the number.  Are you sure you don't mean 450
 KK> C? 
Mean surface temperature (K).........................726
Atmospheric components...............................96% carbon dioxide,
                                                      3% nitrogen,
                                                      0.1% water vapor
Hm, 726 - 273 = 453, so centigrade is the answer.  BTW, atmospheric pressure 
is 90 atms.  So a 10 mph breeze would blow like a 900 mph gale.  Nobody will 
every land there and live to tell about it.  It's a hell of a place to merely 
grab a rock from.  No rocket can push thru 90 atms of drag.  Rocks from an 
asteroid, rocks from Mars, and material for a comet all scheduled in the next 
ten years.  A rock from Venus will be a major project.  Nothing consider as 
yet.
... Mirvana, our place in space.
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