Checking out the neighbors. Dear Cheap Astronomy – Is solar or nuclear better for a future Mars base? A common theme on Cheap Astronomy, with regards to space exploration is that just because we can do it, doesn’t mean we will do it, since any billion dollar investment is going to require some kind of return on investment, whether that be an actual monetary return or political capital, or whatever. And even then, if there’s a major risk of people dying and/or the mission failing, it probably won’t get off the ground in the first place.   Dear Cheap Astronomy – Can we look forward to a cloud city on Venus? The attraction of having a cloud City on Venus is that, at 50 kilometers above the surface there’s one Earth atmosphere of pressure and enough atmosphere above you to protect you from most harmful space radiation, while also letting through much the same solar flux as you would get on Earth.   We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs.  Just visit: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy and donate as much as you can! Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too!  Every bit helps! Thank you! ------------------------------------ Do go visit http://www.redbubble.com/people/CosmoQuestX/shop for cool Astronomy Cast and CosmoQuest t-shirts, coffee mugs and other awesomeness! http://cosmoquest.org/Donate This show is made possible through your donations.  Thank you! (Haven't donated? It's not too late! Just click!) ------------------------------------ The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at info@365DaysOfAstronomy.org.