In the article, "The Challenge of Exploring Venus," the author states very clearly how beneficial studying Venus would be, despite all the dangers. Even after learning how harsh the conditions are on ground level, for some reason, the author still believes the danger would be worth it. Though my own opinion may vary from the author's, they still give very convincing reasons for their point of view. According to the article, the main two reasons Venus would be beneficial for humans to study would be the amount of information that could be learned about the landscape of Venus millions of years ago, and to satisfy human curiosity while having the satisfaction completing a challenge we have been faced with for centuries.

Though the author gives several convinving reasons for studying Venus, perhaps the most influential would be the amount of information we could gain about the past landscape of Venus. In paragraph four, the author discusses that Venus displays several features similar to Earth, meaning it is possible Venus used be a whole lot like Earth. As stated directly in paragraph four, "Long ago, Venus was probably covered largely with oceans and could have supported various forms of life, just like Earth today." Solely based off the information provided in this quote, the author has already begun to convince me learning more about Venus might actually lead to some pretty extraordinary discoveries. What this quote is saying is millions of years ago Venus may have been the planet with the most liveable conditions...instead of Earth. If scientists were able to discover this much, just imagine all the other life forms and food webs that could be uncovered. To reinforce their opinion on Venus potentislly being liveable in the past, the author states, "Furthermore, recall that Venus can cometimes be our nearest option for a planetary visit, a crucial consideration given the long time frames of space travel," at the end of paragraph four. What the author is saying in this quote is at this point, all we have to do is find out how to brave the conditions of Venus. As for travel time, Venus is practically our neighbor, so no worries there.

A secondary reason the author provides as to why humans should study Venus is to satisfy human curiosity while accomplishing a very large task that has troubled humans for centuries. The author states this idea in paragraph eight when saying, "...but also because human curiosity will likely lead us into many equally intimidating endeavors." In this quote, the author is saying due to the fact that humans are extremely curious, we will likely find ourselves in a predicament with similar tough challenges in the future, so we may as well begin working through some of them now. When one sets out to complete a task, they should not stop halfway, but follow through until the problem is solved. They also should not quit because they believe the challenge is too hard. If one is able to stick with their guts and do what needs to be done, they will reap the benefits. Whether those benefits be winning a tough volleyball match or finally sending a human to Venus, it doesn't matter. What does matter is that we do not stop believing in ourselves and our ability to accomplish the seemingly impossible.

In conclusion, the author has given many, specifically two, very convincing reasons as to why we should continue to study Venus. The main two reasons are the amount of information we could gain about the past landscape of Venus, and satisfying human curiosity while accomplishing a very large task which has troubled humans for centuries. Based on the authors suggestions on why humans should continue to study Venus, I have considered changing my mind and agreeing that the dangers would be worth it. It is important to have knowledge about the past of our solar system, and it would be very interesting to know if Venus was once able to support various forms of life. I also feel that the author made a good point in stating that we are already this far into studies, so we should not give up now. Humans are always going to be insatiably curious, so by not finding a solution to this problem now, we are just placing this challege upon the generation following us. After all, curiosity technically never killed the cat. 