Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite The Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) was a NASA-operated orbital observatory whose mission was to study the Earth’s atmosphere, particularly the protective ozone layer. The satellite was deployed from Space Shuttle "Discovery" during the STS-48 mission on 15 September 1991. It entered Earth orbit at an operational altitude of , with an orbital inclination of 57 degrees. The original mission duration was to be only three years, but was extended several times. When the mission finally ended in June 2005 due to funding cuts, 14 years after the satellite's launch, six of its ten instruments were
Life on Venus of the Venusian atmosphere. Until the mid 20th century, the surface environment of Venus was believed to be similar to Earth, and hence it was widely believed that Venus could harbor life. In 1870, the British astronomer Richard Proctor said the existence of life on Venus was impossible near its equator, but possible near its poles. Since the 1960s, increasingly clear evidence from various space probes showed Venus has an extreme climate, with a greenhouse effect generating a constant temperature of about 500 °C on the surface. The atmosphere contains sulfuric acid clouds and the atmospheric pressure at the surface