Some time ago, scientists gave Venus the conditional nickname “Evil Twin of the Earth” because of the very high similarity with our home planet, but simply terrible climatic conditions. And although Venus is located much closer to Earth than the same Mars, at the moment the scientific community knows much more information about the Red Planet, since this planet, in theory, can be colonized by mankind in the near future, but Venus does not. However, experts nevertheless decided to rectify the situation and are already working to launch three research missions at once, aimed at a more detailed study of Venus. The task ahead is quite difficult, but scientists believe that it is worth it.
Now specialists from NASA and the European Space Agency are working together to launch three projects over the next ten years and get answers to many important questions. However, some interesting data about the “sister of the Earth” are already available. For example, scientists believe that on the surface of Venus there is simply an incredible greenhouse effect, due to which the atmosphere of the planet with a thickness of 24 kilometers consists almost entirely of carbon dioxide (96%) and even contains entire clouds of sulfuric acid. Accordingly, there is no question of the possibility of populating this planet with the current level of technology – all life in such an atmosphere simply dies.
Moreover, the temperature on the surface of the planet is so high that the atmosphere can literally melt lead – during certain periods, when the planet is closest to the Sun, the temperature on its surface can reach 480 C. This is a very high temperature even by the standards of the solar system, and it, of course, complicates the process of studying this space object, because not all spacecraft are capable of operating at such temperatures.
“It’s just a terrible place, but it’s very interesting. And we really plan to understand why Venus and Earth turned out to be so different in the end, ”said Lori Glaze, NASA director of planetary sciences.
Now NASA specialists already have a rough plan for studying Venus for the next ten years. The first mission will be DAVINCI (Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble Gases, Chemistry and Imaging) – the agency will send a special ship that will fly past Venus and collect data on its relief, clouds in the atmosphere and more. The same mission includes a descent probe, which will descend almost close to the planet and collect more accurate data about its atmosphere. The second mission is called VERITAS – NASA will create an orbiter that will go to study the planet for the first time since the 1990s – it will allow scientists to collect a sea of \u200b\u200buseful information. And the third mission is EnVision from the European Space Agency – it will be launched in the early 2030s and will study the inner core of Venus.
Source: Trash Box
Charles Grill is a tech-savvy writer with over 3 years of experience in the field. He writes on a variety of technology-related topics and has a strong focus on the latest advancements in the industry. He is connected with several online news websites and is currently contributing to a technology-focused platform.
