By December 2024, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) hopes to launch the Venus mission Shukrayaan, according to the organization's chairman.
Two additional robotic missions to Venus, DaVinci Plus and Veritas, were announced by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
Venus Mission: Shukrayaan 2024
The ISRO is planning more ambitious missions like Gaganyaan and Shukrayaan for the future as a result of the success of Chandrayaan and Mangalyaan.
In order to investigate beneath the surface of the hottest planet in the solar system and to solve the secrets hidden beneath the sulfuric acid clouds that encircle it, the ISRO is now preparing a spacecraft to orbit Venus.
The launch window for December 2024 is being considered, and orbital maneuvers are scheduled for the following year, when Venus and Earth will be in such an alignment that the spacecraft may enter its orbit with the least amount of propellant.
The proposed experiments consist of:
Examining the structure, content, and dynamics of the atmosphere; investigating the surface processes and shallow subsurface stratigraphy; researching active volcanic hotspots and lava flows; and investigating the interaction of the solar wind with the Venusian Ionosphere
Shukrayaan-I
Depending on how it is ultimately configured, the orbiter might carry up to 100 kg of science equipment with 500 W of electricity available.
It is anticipated that the first elliptical orbit around Venus will measure 500 km at periapsis and 60,000 km at apoapsis.
The GSLV Mk II rocket is scheduled to carry the satellite into orbit.
Sweden is joining India's "Shukrayaan" Venus orbiter mission with a scientific tool to study the planet.
Venusian Neutrals Analyzer (VNA), a satellite instrument of the Institute of Space Physics (IRF), will investigate the interactions between charged particles from the Sun and the planet's atmosphere and exosphere.
Relevance of the Venus mission to Shukrayaan
There has never before been any subsurface research done on Venus. Thus, this will be the mission's first sub-surface radar flight. It will reach a few hundred meters below Venus's surface.
An instrument to study Venus' atmosphere at infrared, ultraviolet, and submillimeter wavelengths will also be carried by the expedition.
It will shed light on the atmospheric conditions and the evolution of planets similar to Earth.
It will also try to present a prospective picture of how a planet could be severely affected by climate change.
The Shukrayaan mission's obstacles
Venus's dense atmosphere and surface activity make it challenging to navigate. Compared to Mars, there are far more complexity.
The equipment must penetrate deep into the atmosphere in order to gain a deeper knowledge.
Through the clouds and darkness of Venus' atmosphere, high-resolution sensors are required.
Venus Planet
The nearest planetary neighbor to Earth is Venus, which is located two planets from the Sun.
It is one of the four inner rocky terrestrial planets and is frequently referred to as Earth's twin due to similarities in size and density. There are notable distinctions between the two planets and these are not identical twins.
Venus is covered in thick, yellowish sulfuric acid clouds that are constantly present and trap heat, leading to a runaway greenhouse effect. Venus also has a thick, toxic atmosphere that is primarily composed of carbon dioxide.
Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun, but it's still the hottest planet in our solar system. Venus's surface is heated to a temperature of approximately 900 degrees Fahrenheit (475 degrees Celsius), hot enough to melt lead.
Rusty-colored, the terrain is dotted with numerous of massive volcanoes and severely eroded mountains. Certain volcanoes may still be active, according to scientists.
At its surface, Venus experiences crushing atmospheric pressure that is comparable to that found a mile below the Earth's ocean and more than 90 times that of Earth.
Another significant distinction between Venus and Earth is that, in contrast to the majority of other planets in the solar system, Venus rotates on its axis backward.
This indicates that, in contrast to what we see on Earth, the Sun rises in the west and sets in the east on Venus.
Prior Global Venus Missions
On December 14, 1962, NASA's Mariner 2 spacecraft successfully passed by and examined the cloud-covered planet Venus, making it the first planet to be explored by a spacecraft.
Since then, a number of American and international spacecraft have investigated Venus, such as NASA's Magellan, which used radar to study the planet's surface.
The most successful landings on Venus to yet were accomplished by the Soviet spacecraft VENERA, but their short survival was caused by the intense heat and intense pressure.
In 1978, an American spacecraft known as NASA's Pioneer Venus Multiprobes touched down on the planet and lived for roughly an hour.
NASA also conducted successful flybys of Venus with Galileo (1989), Cassini (1997), and Messenger (2004).
Among the more recent Venus projects are Japan's Akatsuki Venus Climate Orbiter, which has been in orbit since 2016, and ESA's Venus Express, which was in orbit from 2006 to 2016.
Venus has been visited by NASA's Parker Solar Probe on several occasions. NASA declared on February 9, 2022, that during the spacecraft's flyby in February 2021, it had taken its first photographs of Venus's surface using visible light.
Upcoming Venus Missions
Three new Venusian missions were revealed in June 2021. NASA and ESA jointly announced two additional missions:
VERITAS:
The Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy (VERITAS) satellite from NASA will be the first to investigate Venus since the 1990s. The spacecraft is scheduled to launch in December 2027 at the latest. It will circle Venus, collecting information to show how Earth's and Venus's courses diverged and how Venus lost the ability to support human habitation.
DAVINCI
In the latter part of 2020, NASA's DAVINCI mission will take off. DAVINCI will send a probe to the surface of Venus after investigating the uppermost part of its atmosphere. The probe will capture thousands of measurements and close-up photos of the surface during its hour-long fall. Even though the probe might not make it through the landing, it could still offer several minutes of extra science.
Envision
EnVision has been chosen by ESA to conduct in-depth observations of Venus. NASA is a major participant in the program and is supplying VenSAR, or the Synthetic Aperture Radar, which is used to measure the planet's surface features at high resolution.
Sources:TOI
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