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EnVision Mission

Posted on June 14, 2021 by admin1  267

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Recently, the European Space Agency (ESA) has selected EnVision as its next orbiter that will visit Venus . 

  • Earlier, NASA selected two missions to the planet Venus.
    • The missions called DAVINCI+ and VERITAS have been selected based on their potential for scientific value and the feasibility of their development plans.

About the Mission 

  • EnVision is an ESA led mission with contributions from NASA. It is likely to be launched sometime in the 2030s. 
    • The earliest launch opportunity for EnVision is 2031, followed by 2032 and 2033.
  • It will be launched on an Ariane 6 rocket and  the spacecraft will take about 15 months to reach Venus and will take 16 more months to achieve orbit circularisation.
  • The spacecraft will carry a range of instruments to study the planet’s atmosphere and surface, monitor trace gases in the atmosphere and analyse its surface composition. 
  • A radar provided by NASA will help to image and map the surface.
  • EnVision will follow another ESA-led mission to Venus called ‘Venus Express’ (2005-2014) that focussed on atmospheric research and pointed to volcanic hotspots on the planet’s surface. 
    • Other than this, Japan’s Akatsuki spacecraft has also been studying the planet’s atmosphere since 2015.

 

Significance of Studying Venus 

  • At the core of the ESA’s mission is the question of how Earth and Venus evolved so differently from each other considering that they are roughly of the same size and composition.
  • Scientists speculate about the existence of life on Venus in its distant past and the possibility that life may exist in the top layers of its clouds where temperatures are less extreme.
    • In 2020, a team of scientists reported that they had found phosphine gas (a chemical produced only through biological processes) in the atmosphere of Venus that triggered excitement in the scientific community that some life forms might be supported by the planet.
    • But the existence of life on the planet is nearly impossible given the high temperatures of Venus and its acidic atmosphere. 
    • Even so, this discovery could mean that life forms could have existed on Venus before when it was habitable. As per this theory, the discovery of phosphine could simply be remnants from the past.

 

About Venus  

  • Venus is Earth’s closest planetary neighbour which is similar in structure but slightly smaller than Earth, it is the second planet from the sun.
  • Venus has been called Earth’s twin.
  • Venus is wrapped in a thick, toxic atmosphere filled with carbon dioxide that traps in heat.
  • The temperature of Venus is too high, and its atmosphere is highly acidic, just two of the things that would make life impossible.
  • Surface temperatures reach a scorching 880 degrees Fahrenheit (471 degrees Celsius), hot enough to melt lead.
  • It has no moons and no rings.
  • It spins from east to west, the opposite direction from all other planets in our solar system but the same as Uranus.
  • Venus’ solid surface is a volcanic landscape covered with extensive plains featuring high volcanic mountains and vast ridges.
  • Earlier Studies and Missions: Venus was the first planet to be explored by a spacecraft – NASA’s Mariner 2 on Dec. 14, 1962.
    • NASA’s Pioneer Venus mission (1978), the Soviet Union’s Venera 15 and 16 missions (1983-1984), and NASA’s Magellan radar mapping mission (1990-1994) provided together with a comprehensive picture of a dry world, with landscapes shaped by volcanic and intense geological activity. 
    • Indian mission -Shukrayaan
      • India plans to launch a new orbiter to Venus in 2024.
      • It will be the first mission to Venus by the India Space Research Organization (ISRO) and will study the planet for four years.

 

                                             (Image Courtesy: Forbes)

Source :IE

 
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