Earth and Venus: near-twins with divergent fates and a metallic frost mystery
Earth and Venus are nearly the same size and gravity, but Venus may host a radar-bright highland coating of lead- and bismuth-sulfide compounds—metallic frost that is not yet confirmed. The mystery ties into how two similar worlds evolved such different climates and histories, and NASA’s DAVINCI and VERITAS missions will probe Venus’s atmosphere and surface to constrain its past water, atmospheric chemistry, and surface composition, while leaving the timing and exact path of their divergence unresolved.