Did you know that the NASA was planning a Venus flyby in the 70’s it was basically like sending Skylab and an Apollo capsule there and back. It’s just sad to see all theses missed opportunities, it’s wasn’t a pipe dream where you would have to invent and develop new vehicle and technology, all this project was based on spare equipment from the moon missions.
check this entry : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manned_Venus_Flyby