Another possibility is that life in Venus’s atmosphere (if there is any) came from Earth. It is a very dry planet with no evidence of water, its surface temperature is hot enough to melt lead, and its atmosphere is so thick that the air pressure … There’s Only One Way to Know for Sure. Venus is not at the top of the list when thinking of life elsewhere in our Solar System. Compared to Earth, it's a hellhole. If phosphine detected on the planet next door is really a signature of alien biology, we can send a space probe to find out. So, here's an important point: When we get excited about a potential sign of life on Venus, we’re not talking about life like us. There is also the question of how life could survive in an environment like Venus’. Life may well have blossomed there at some point. Could a few survivors from those happier days still lurk high in the atmosphere? Although there is a region in the Venusian atmosphere, between about 50 and 60 kilometres altitude, where the temperature and atmospheric pressure are Earth-like, there is still the sulphuric acid and near-total lack of water for any putative life to have to deal with. The planets of our inner solar system have been documented to exchange materials in the past. Most astronomers feel that it would be impossible for life to exist on Venus. Is There Really Life on Venus? "The atmosphere [on Venus] is the only place in which life actually could, in principle, exist,” said Janusz Petkowski, research scientist at MIT Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, adding that there are no known chemical or physical processes that could produce the quantities of the gas detected. The atmosphere on Venus is still about 80% sulphuric acid.) Earth’s sister planet, Venus, has not been regarded as a high priority in the search for life. 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