NASA is seriously considering a plan to build a cloud city hovering over the scorching surface of Venus.

Scientists said the Venusian sky city will allow them to learn more about the closest planetary neighbor we have. But the biggest scientific leap is that it could lead to a successful journey to Mars.

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With a massive number of active volcanoes regularly spewing sulfur, ash, and other particulates into its atmosphere, Venus has an average surface temperature of more than 860 degrees Fahrenheit.

This intense heat, and the combination of atmospheric pressures more than 90 times what we experience on the surface of the Earth, makes the surface of Venus nearly impossible to explore and study. Venus has a track record of devouring probes sent to its surface in a matter of hours.

The ambitious NASA plan is to build a blimp city that will float 30 miles above the surface of Venus in a habitable zone and where astronauts can study the inhospitable planet.

Venus is much closer to the Earth than Mars. But unlike Venus, Mars may have been at one point capable of hosting life, which could help our understanding of the way life was created and eventually evolved.

This has led NASA to embark on early feasibility studies on what it calls its High Altitude Venus Operational Concept, or HAVOC.

The entire platform will be a blimp-like craft that will be the home of astronauts and also a platform for probes and analysis instruments high above the tumult on the surface of Venus. NASA believes a HAVOC mission could be carried-out in less time than a Mars mission and could even be a good dry run for it.

It's possible that NASA could conduct the Venus mission first.

This will allow NASA to advance the technologies required to survive in non-Earth atmospheres, and could lead to a better-prepared mission to Mars later on.

Tagsvenus, Mars One mission, red planet, Mars, space exploration, Venus mission, solar system