re: The challenges of Venus
With such temperatures and pressures, winds at high altitude, the planet must be loaded with energy and it should one day be possible to take advantage of it.
Also, the extreme conditions should incite engineers to build something that can last long enough to produce interesting science! The toughest metals, the most heat resistant devices!
And it's also known the Sun was not as cold a long time ago and perhaps Venus wasn't as hostile in the past.
And why does it have an anticlockwise rotation? Mystery...
Venus is tempting!
Raoul