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Brenn and Dara were playing tag without gravity. Brenn grabbed Dara's foot as it floated past him. Then he began bouncing wildly off the walls to evade her lunges at him. He flipped aside a shoe hanging in the air and slid under the instrument panel.
"Excellent maneuver," commented SAM. "Cease exercise and become attentive to instruction. We have entered the region of Venus. It is about the same size as Earth, with a diameter of about 7,520 mi (12,100 km). The distance from the Sun here is about 67,000,000 mi (108,000,000 km). Venus requires 243 Earth days to rotate on its axis, but moves around the Sun in only 225 Earth days. Gravity is 91% of Earth's.
"The planet's cloud cover rains sulfuric acid, but much of that evaporates before it strikes the surface. Temperatures are often 900.(*&dF (480¬<eth>&deC). The atmosphere of carbon dioxide creates a harsh greenhouse effect. The Sun's heat is trapped, and the surface cools little at night. The atmosphere is extremely heavy, 89 times as heavy as Earth's, heavy enough to crush humans. Early Earth probes lasted only hours or even minutes in this environment." Brenn said, "Great, SAM, so we get to be baked, crushed, suffocated, and disintegrated by acid all at the same time!"
"Negative, Human, it is not great. Continue to receive information. Venus is bright in the sky because of its thick cloud cover, which reflects sunlight like snow. The landforms are craters, mountain ranges, rolling plains, and two large plateaus. Beware of active volcanoes and lava flow. The sky will be orange, because of the clouds of sulfuric acid. Expect high winds up to 220 mph (350 km/hr) and large lightning flashes."
"Well, Dara, what are we going to do?" asked Brenn.
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QUESTIONS
Help Dara and Brenn decide how to keep themselves and their ship safe inside the atmosphere of Venus. Write YES beside equipment and settings that will help and NO beside equipment and settings that will not.
1. _______ Heat shields for the ship
2. _______ Subarctic spacesuits to protect against cold weather
3. _______ Acidproof and heatproof spacesuits for Brenn and Dara
4. _______ Wind deflectors for the lander vehicle
5. _______ Weighted shoes and spacesuits, because of the very weak gravity
6. _______ Tanks of air to breathe
7. _______ Special crushproof framework for the lander vehicle
8. _______ Heatproof shoes, in case the twins are trapped by lava flow
Writing Assignment: Write a paragraph or two on the back of this sheet, explaining your answers. Is there any other equipment, not listed above, that Dara and Brenn should take along? What about additional protection for the Scout and the lander vehicle? Check the control panel shown on the unit poster for more possibilities.