Though they are similar in size, the fate of the sister planets has ended up being completely different. In 1962, Venus was the target of humanity's first successful interplanetary probe, which made scientists realise how difficult the planet is to study.
Renewed Attention
Astronomers have sent missions that have studied Mercury, Jupiter and Mars but Venus has been left out in recent decades. Though scientific interest has been strong, space agencies have not been intent on returning to the planet.
The Decade of Venus?
Nearly every space agency in the world is planning a data-finding mission to the planet. Russia's Roscosmos is working with the US on a daring mission to land a spacecraft on Venus. Scientists think Venus may have been the first habitable planet in the Solar System.
India's Orbiter
The ISRO had said in the past that it will send a probe to Venus in 2023 to study its conditions.
Why This Fuss Over Venus?
* Despite its similarity to earth, it has been little explored, partly because Venus is a forbidding place : the thick carbon dioxide atmosphere is home to sulfuric acid clouds that blanket the whole planet
* The planet is crucial for knowing the past and the future of earth. Scientists think that Venus was once like earth, hosting oceans of water for billions of years. But a "runaway greenhouse" effect - due to the proximity to the sun - overheated the planet, burned away its water and made the surface a sweltering wasteland
* Another theory is that the greenhouse effect was not due to the sun but due to the planet's over-active volcanos. Paul Bryne, a planetary scientist, wrote that very frequent eruptions may have pumped enough CO2 into the atmosphere to override "the planet's ability to regulate its climate, putting it on a path to catastrophe"
Venus is hotter than ever, with a third new robotic explorer on the horizon. A week after NASA announced two new missions to our closest neighbour, the European Space Agency said recently it will launch a Venus-orbiting spacecraft in the early 2030s. We discuss the renewed interest in our sister planet.
Hat Trick
Three missions were announced : two from the US and one from the European Union.
Named EnVision, the European orbiter will attempt to explain why Venus is so "wildly different" from earth, even though the two planets are similar in size and composition.
NASA's own pair of upcoming missions to our solar system's hottest planet - called DAVINCI+ and VERITAS - will be the first for the US in more than 30 years. They'll blast off sometime around 2028 and 2030.
A Vision of Hell
Venus' surface is extremely hot, reaching more than 400 degrees celsius. The atmospheric pressure is so heavy that it has the force of a hulk crushing heavy machinery. In short, Venus is deadly. The planet also has gigantic seas of frozen lava.
Mission Objectives
* VERITAS will study the surface with radar, scanning for geological activity. DAVINCI+ will measure the atmosphere to find answers to how the planet formed and evolved.
DAVINCI+ could perhaps finally resolve the controversy of past year's research that found evidence for phosphine in Venus' atmosphere, which could indicate that life exists on the planet.
Tailpiece.
Got up a trifle late being a Sunday, the chores and was ready by a quarter to 10. Kittu was out on the rug at our balcony.
Read up a nice article on the late Malayalam movie hero, Sathyan titled "Moodupadamillaatha Maha Nadan" on the Mathrubhumi newspaper.
It was a thoroughly wet day.
No comments:
Post a Comment