Why Venus is always nicknamed Earth's evil twin

Why Venus is often nicknamed Earth's evil twin

Venus is often referred to as Earth's evil twin due to their stark differences. For instance, a day on Venus lasts longer than a year on Earth—243 Earth days compared to just 225 for a Venusian year. This extreme contrast means that on Venus, you'd celebrate your birthday daily!

In the distant past, Venus, Earth, and Mars could have been similar, like three cupcakes in an oven: Mars cooled drastically, Earth remained temperate and protected, while Venus became blazingly hot and uninhabitable. Earth's gradual evolution maintained stable oceans, a protective atmosphere, and diverse life forms, unlike Venus, which experienced extreme temperature spikes and lost its oceans to a thick carbon dioxide atmosphere.

Mars, once potentially habitable with rivers and lakes, now retains water mostly in polar ice caps and mineral deposits. These include hydrous minerals like clays and sulfates, which may hold clues to Martian history and potential for life.

Future missions, like the Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE), aim to produce oxygen essential for sustained human presence on Mars. In contrast, Venus remains a puzzle despite recent studies hinting at survivable conditions and ongoing missions like Venus Life Finder, slated for 2025, to explore its atmosphere for signs of organic compounds and potential habitability.

Understanding these sibling planets through past data and upcoming missions holds promise for unraveling their mysteries and potential for life beyond Earth.