NPR

Why Venus Remains A 'Mysterious Planet'

NASA's Parker Solar Probe, which launched Aug. 12 to collect data on the sun, will swing by Venus on the way. Some scientists say the "morning star" has been neglected.
Planet Venus, pictured as a black dot, left, is seen in transit across the sun on the banks of the Ganges River in Varanasi, India, Wednesday, June 6, 2012. (Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP)

Venus is getting some rare attention, thanks to NASA’s Parker Solar Probe. It will swing by the planet on its way to study the sun’s atmosphere.

Here & Now‘s Peter O’Dowd talks with astronomer Dean Regas (@DeanRegas) about the NASA mission and what’s known and unknown about Venus.

Interview Highlights

On the logistics of the Parker Solar Probe’s future trip to the sun, and the records the probe will break

“It’s one of those things you think, ‘Alright, we’re going to fly a mission to the sun.’ Now, that sounds easy in one way and hard another way. You think, ‘Alright, well, we can aim stuff at the sun. That’s easy, it’s

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