However, two new findings have scientists buzzing. Astronomers have detected two gases in Venusian clouds that could be signs of life – phosphine and ammonia. On Earth, both phosphine and ...

in the clouds of Venus. The announcement sparked a heated debate and a surge of follow-up studies, which have generally failed to spot the intriguing molecule in the Venusian atmosphere.

But achieving that goal will mean overcoming one of the most hostile environments in the solar system—the planet’s cloaking clouds are primarily made up of droplets of sulfuric acid.

The clouds of Venus are made of droplets ... or might indicate that there is Venusian atmospheric chemistry that we do not yet understand.” The discovery of ammonia would be exciting if ...

Some of those early space probes succeeded in their missions, capturing the first measurements and images from the Venusian surface. Kosmos 482 was not one of them. Launched in 1972, Kosmos 482 ...