Following the release of the first ever visible images from the surface of Venus by NASA-Sun’s Parker Solar Probe, the National Aeronautics And Space Administration – NASA, in conjunction with European Space Agency – ESA , are hastening to kickstart the over 1 billion Dollar Space Project that will send more sophisticated Spacecrafts to the Earth Twin. NASA’s Venus Missions will help gather more information about the hottest planet in the Solar System.
The Missions: EnVision, VERITAS And DAVINCI+ which are to be rolled out over the decade, will help gather more information about Venus, which had been of limited exploration due to it’s harsh atmosphere. Even though Venus was the first planet to be explored by NASA;s spacecraft; MARINER 2, on December 14 1962 , there have been limited data from the Earth Sister. With the last space mission to Venus having occurred 30 years ago. Despite it’s closeness to Earth, unavailability of toughly fashioned spacecrafts capable of maneuvering the harsh atmosphere of Venus had hampered further studies.
Thanks to the brisk capture made by the 2018 launched Parker Solar Probe on it’s way to the Sun, we would not have had a clear image of what the surface of Venus looks like. Better Imaging Strategy have been employed in the fabrication of the various missions crafts.
In a Twitter Space Session hosted by NASA, following the successful capture of Venus’s surface by the Parker Solar Probe spacecraft, Lori Glaze of NASA-USA, alongside Nicola Fox, Brian Wood of the US Naval Research Laboratory and Colin Wilson of European Space Agency highlighted on how the camera’s of the Parker Solar Probe spacecraft was able to be fashioned to curtail the harsh atmosphere of Venus. And how these advancements will be employed in design of the Oncoming Venus Mission Crafts.
According to Brian; there will be a sophisticated chemistry laboratory installed in the next NASA mission to Venus to be able to suck up the gases and learn more about the history of water in Venus and about the ability of microbes having existed in Venus in the past. The Missions will also gather information on the Volcanoes occurring in Venus. The machines will also be equipped with advanced observer radars. Due to the brightness of Venus, capturing images in the day results in totally useless images, but in the night side of the planet, images received are clear.
With the advancements in Physics over the decades, scientists have been able to fashion the capable machines and instruments that can thrive in the harshness of Venus’s atmosphere. If you are wondering what use is this missions to the people of the Earth then it is worth noting that Venus, due to it’s hotness, enacts the most Greenhouse Effect on our Earth. To further understand these new missions to Venus and their respective objectives, we will highlight on each mission:
NASA’S VENUS MISSIONS
EnVision:
According to Wikipedia; EnVision is an orbital mission to Venus being developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) that is planned to perform high-resolution radar mapping and atmospheric studies. EnVision is designed to help scientists understand the relationships between its geological activity and the atmosphere, and it would investigate why Venus and Earth took such different evolutionary paths. The probe was selected as the fifth medium mission (M5) of ESA’s Cosmic Vision program in June 2021, with launch planned for 2031. The mission will be conducted in collaboration with NASA, with the potential sharing of responsibilities currently under assessment.
Core science measurements are:
- High-resolution mapping of specific targets, surface change, geomorphology, topography, subsurface, thermal emission, SO
- 2, H
- 2O, D/H ratio, gravity, spin rate, and spin axis.
The specific mission’s goals are:
- Determine the level and nature of current activity
- Determine the sequence of geological events that generated its range of surface features
- Assess whether Venus once had oceans or was hospitable for life
- Understand the organising geodynamic framework that controls the release of internal heat over the history of the planet. Continue reading on EnVision.
VERITAS
VERITAS (Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy) is an upcoming mission from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to map the surface of planet Venus in high resolution. The combination of topography, near-infrared spectroscopy, and radar image data will provide knowledge of Venus’s tectonic and impact history, gravity, geochemistry, the timing and mechanisms of volcanic resurfacing, and the mantle processes responsible for them.
Read More On VERITAS
DAVINCI+
DAVINCI+ (Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging, Plus) is a planned mission for an orbiter and atmospheric probe to the planet Venus. Together with the VERITAS mission, which will also study Venus, it was selected by NASA on 2 June 2021 to be part of their Discovery Program.
DAVINCI+ will send both an orbiter and a descent probe to Venus. The orbiter will image Venus in multiple wavelengths from above, while the descent probe will study the chemical composition of Venus’ atmosphere and take photographs during descent. he DAVINCI+ probe will travel through the Venusian atmosphere, sampling the atmosphere, and returning measurements down to the surface. These measurements are important to understanding the origin of the atmosphere, how it has evolved, and how and why it is different from the atmosphere of Earth and Mars.
The measurements taken by DAVINCI+ will investigate the possible history of water on Venus and the chemical processes at work in the unexplored lower atmosphere. Before it reaches the surface, the DAVINCI+ probe will capture high resolution images of the planet’s ridged terrain (“tesserae”), returning the first images of the planet’s surface since Soviet Venera 13 lander in 1981. It will also collect data for studying the planet’s origin, and its tectonic and weathering history. Read More On DAVINCI.
The success of NASA’s Venus missions will help us understand more about the Earth’s sister, as Venus has a relatively young surface, tracing the history of the planet back in time will also give us insight about the history of not just our solar system, but also of the Earth, which is the closest Planet to Venus.
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