Feb. 20, 1963 - Temperatures on the surface of Venus were found by the Mariner space probe to be about 800 degrees Fahrenheit, it was learned today. The high temperatures rule out the possibility of life, at least in any form remotely resembling that on Earth, on the cloud-shrouded planet. The 447-pound spacecraft was launched Aug. 27 and flew past Venus Dec. 14 at a distance of 21,594 miles. Instruments aboard the craft registered the radiation being emitted from the planet and tried to measure the magnetic field surrounding the Earth’s “sister planet.” No magnetic field was recorded, indicating that Venus either has no field or the field is so small that the instruments could not detect it. In the latter case, the field would be only 5 to 10% of the Earth’s field. That discovery, hailed as a major one, suggested that Venus rotates slowly and may not be encircled by a radiation belt like Earth.
