text: The contraditiction begins as soon as the author begins to explain the reasoning behind even considering visits to the planet's surface. By that point, the author was using real data and solid information to explain the dangers of the planet's surface, however, as soon as the author started reasoning on why the expedition should happen, his arguments were not as solid and were based on assumptions: "It may well once have been the most Earth-like planet in our solar system. Long ago, Venus was probably covered largely with oceans and could have supported various forms of life, just like Earth"(paragraph 4). The use of terms such as "it may well once have been" or "was probably" do not give the reader the confidence that they need to believe in the author's claims, that is based on "probably" and "most likely" expressions.