The only images that we have from the surface of Venus are from the 1970s and 1980s. They were taken by the Soviet Venera landers, which only lasted a few minutes before failing. Orbiter data is sparse too. The best map of the surface has a resolution of several hundred meters. The contrast with Mars is stark: We have sub-meter resolution maps and millions of images from landers and rovers.
The reason is that at 460 °C (860 °F), Venus is hotter than the hottest setting of the oven in my kitchen. With current technology, there’s no way to build landers and rovers that’d last more than a few minutes. The heat also makes it unlikely to host any life. After all, life prefers cooler environments. This is a hard constraint that it’s impossible to evolve around. Excessive heat is incompatible with order, and order is a defining characteristic of life. The hope of finding evidence for present or past life is a big reason we keep sending robots to Mars, and its almost certain absence on the surface of Venus eliminates a major incentive to go.
Even so, there are two missions planned to take off in the next five years. NASA’s DAVINCI will descend to the surface and deliver the first images in almost half a century. ESA’s Envision will orbit Venus for a few years and collect data on its atmosphere, surface and interior.
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