Why science can’t resist the allure of Venus: new missions to Earth’s nearest planetary neighbour

With a surface hot enough to melt lead, Venus has been left alone by space agencies for a decade. Now we are about to learn more about its climate - and the chances of life on other planets

A fleet of robot spaceships is to descend on Venus in a few years and begin probing the most inhospitable world in the solar system. One craft will drop through the planet's crushingly dense - and searingly hot - atmosphere while two others will orbit over the thick, acidic clouds that cover Venus and use sophisticated radar telescopes to survey the terrain beneath them.

Such scrutiny represents a remarkable renewal of interest in Earth's nearest planetary neighbour. For more than a decade, American and European space agencies have ignored the planet - only for three new Venus missions to be announced within days of each other at the beginning of June.