Key facts
- Mean diameter
- 12,104 km
- Mass
- 4.87 × 10^24 kg (0.815 Earths)
- Surface gravity
- 8.9 m/s² (0.908 g)
- Escape velocity
- 10.4 km/s
- Mean temperature
- 464 °C
- Rotation period
- 5,832.5 hours (retrograde)
- Orbital period
- 224.7 days
- Mean distance from the Sun
- 108.2 million km
- Sunlight travel time
- 6 min 0.9 s
- Axial tilt
- 177.4°
- Confirmed moons
- 0
Atmosphere
About 96.5% carbon dioxide and 3.5% nitrogen; surface pressure about 92 times Earth's.
Composition and structure
Rocky planet with an iron core, a mantle and a volcanic surface.
Discovery and exploration
Mariner 2 (1962) made the first successful planetary flyby. Soviet Venera landers returned the first images from another planet's surface (1975). Magellan radar-mapped 98% of the surface (1990–94).