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I think this part made it sound nastier:

> On this turbulent alien world, the daytime temperature is nearly 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, and it possibly rains glass -- sideways -- in howling, 4,500-mph winds.

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> The cobalt blue color comes not from the reflection of a tropical ocean as it does on Earth, but rather a hazy, blow-torched atmosphere containing high clouds laced with silicate particles. Silicates condensing in the heat could form very small drops of glass that scatter blue light more than red ligh

Are they using something in addition to a spectograph to know this?

That description makes Venus look like a habitable planet.

Actually, if you could somehow use balloons filled with human-breathable air as floating devices, you could float about 50 km above Venus surface, in a nice earth-like 1 atm pressure and 0–50 C temperature range.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonization_of_Venus#Aerostat_...

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