Venus is often called the Earth’s sister planet.

The Earth and Venus are very similar in size with only a 638 km difference in diameter and Venus having 81.5% of the Earth’s mass. Both also have a central core, a molten mantle and a crust.

At one point it was thought Venus might be a tropical paradise.

The dense clouds of sulphuric acid surrounding Venus make it impossible to view its surface from outside its atmosphere. It was only when radio mapping was developed in the 1960s that scientists were able to observe the extreme temperatures and hostile environment.

Check out this cool graphic!