Which would you rather live on? Mars or Venus?

A comparison of the planets Mars and Venus to Earth.

By numerarius5988am on March 18, 2010 7:42:22 PM from

To start with, Earth has an axial tilt of 23.4°, Mars 25°, and Venus 178°. The axial tilt determines the possibility of seasons. Mars' axial tilt is very similar to Earth's but Venus' axial tilt is way out there.

The length of day on Mars is 1.026 Earth days (or about 24 hours and 39 minutes). The length of day on the planet Venus is 243.02 Earth days and Venus rotates in the opposite direction of both Earth and Mars.

The length of year on Mars is about twice as long as on Earth though, 686.98 Earth days. The length of year on Venus is 224.7 Earth days, which is 18.3 Earth days shorter than its own day.

The mean average temperature on Earth is positive 46.1°F, on Mars it is negative 45.7°F, and on Venus it is positive 847°F. Making Mars frigid and Venus a furnace. Perhaps food could be cooked on Venus and sent for storage on Mars...

Links:

Earth: http://pds.jpl.nasa.gov/planets/special/earth.htm

Mars: http://pds.jpl.nasa.gov/planets/special/mars.htm

Venus: http://pds.jpl.nasa.gov/planets/special/venus.htm

+15 Karma | 21 Replies

Mars; it isn't even in the same ballpark as Venus. Mars has water (albiet frozen), arable soil capable of growing crops, non-crushing pressure, and you won't spontaneously combust upon getting near the surface. Pressure is fairly low, at an avg of about 1% of earth at ground level, but as long as you had a heated wetsuit and oxygen, you could probably survive.

Considering the O2 content of both, perhaps a better question would be "Would you rather die on mars or venus"...... I like it hot, so assuming that I didn't get the aforementioned heated wetsuit, I'd rather go out in fire than ice.

I'd have to go with Venus. According to my research, Women originate from there
Sorry, I'll go away now.

Quoting ZehDon,

reply 3

I'd have to go with Venus. According to my research, Women originate from there

Is that where theor hot flashes come from? (Ducks and runs).

You guys are very brave

Quoting Scoutdog,

reply 2

Best answer +1

On Venus you would be burned, crushed and corroded in a fraction of a second.

On Mars you could survive in an environment suit for many hours. You could have a large base with all the things required for survival, such as food and water. You could even grow things in the Martian soil (indoors).

With the right support, Mars is do-able. Venus is a no-go, even with our best technology.

Mars, no question.

It's hot on Venus and it has lots of smog. The cool and relaxing clime of Mars sounds much more inviting. Perhaps someone will go in on a condo there with me?

Mars

Mars, hands down. Why do you think it's such a popular planet in Sci-Fi?

For another thing, it'd be easier to terraform Mars than it would be Venus.

Quoting Warlord Mike,

reply 11

For another thing, it'd be easier to terraform Mars than it would be Venus.

I was thinking the same thing about terrforming. And the added bonus is no one would complain about global warming!

Quoting Warlord Mike,

reply 11

Mars, hands down. Why do you think it's such a popular planet in Sci-Fi?

For another thing, it'd be easier to terraform Mars than it would be Venus.

Yeah, though Venus is still far more likely than any other planet. I guess there is Mercury, but really there isn't a lot that we can do about its temperatures. Venus at least in theory would be a lot cooler if it had a habitable atmosphere.

Quoting Dr Guy,

reply 12

And the added bonus is no one would complain about global warming!

I read the Mars series by Kim Robinson. One of the themes is how eco-terrorists rise up against the terraforming of Mars. "we must get rid of the nasty green stuff sprouting up everywhere!"

Pretty interesting info. I think I would have to go with Mars too.

Quoting djcityscapes,

reply 14

Quoting Dr Guy, reply 12
And the added bonus is no one would complain about global warming!
I read the Mars series by Kim Robinson. One of the themes is how eco-terrorists rise up against the terraforming of Mars. "we must get rid of the nasty green stuff sprouting up everywhere!"

I was going to mention the Mars trilogy, but you beat me to it. Recommended reading for anyone interested in space colonization, terraforming, or alternative socioeconomic paradigms.

Terraforming Venus might be doable, but we wouldn't be able to actually go there until very late in the process. In contrast, we can go to Mars now and build underground colonies or cover the canyons while we work on "polluting" the atmosphere to make it warmer and thicker.

And when you are fed up with Mars and Venus you can go to Jupiter's moon Europa - you just have to drill through the ice to get into the heated ocean (probably water) below. There might be some interesting fish swimming in there!

Or if you are willing to wait a bit longer you could go to Saturn's moon Titan: it's a bit cold today but you'll have rivers, lakes and mountains. If you just wait until the Sun is blown up to like 10 times its present size before dying, Titan could be warmed up and become a really cozy - if short-lived- brand new Earth.

I would rather live in uranus.

Quoting djcityscapes,

reply 14

I read the Mars series by Kim Robinson. One of the themes is how eco-terrorists rise up against the terraforming of Mars. "we must get rid of the nasty green stuff sprouting up everywhere!"

I have read several authors that expand on that theme. Indeed, ST-TNG even had an episode along those lines. One man's polution......

Venus. It's like Los Angeles, but nicer.

Quoting Warlord Mike,

reply 11

Mars, hands down. Why do you think it's such a popular planet in Sci-Fi?

For another thing, it'd be even remotely possible to terraform Mars than it would be Venus.

Fixed that for you.

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Which would you rather live on? Mars or Venus?

A comparison of the planets Mars and Venus to Earth.