Two new missions to Aphrodite, after 30 years of absence, the US Space Agency (NASA).
Venus is the closest planet to Earth but ignored to this day because of its highly inhospitable environment.
The new missions will shed light on how the Aphrodite It became a hot and suffocating “hell”, with temperatures that melt even metals, although otherwise it has many similarities to Earth and was once probably the first habitable planet of our solar system, with an ocean and “earthly” climate.
But something happened and, according to the dominant scientific hypothesis, Aphrodite fell victim to an out of control “greenhouse effect“, Something that some warn that could be the distant future of the Earth itself, if climate change is not brought under control, as underlined by AMPE.
The two missions that will constitute part of the wider Discovery program NASA and is scheduled to launch in 2028-2030, named DAVINCI + (Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry and Imaging) and VERITAS (Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography and Spectroscopy).
The first mission will study the composition of Aphrodite’s atmosphere to understand its evolution and to determine with certainty whether the planet really once had an ocean. It will be a spherical space device that will “dive” into the dense atmosphere mainly from clouds of sulfuric acid and carbon dioxide and will make accurate measurements. It will also take the first high-resolution photographs of Aphrodite’s unique geological features. DAVINCI + will be scientifically responsible for the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.
The second VERITAS mission will map the surface of Aphrodite to shed light on the geological history of Aphrodite and why it evolved so differently from that of Earth. A spacecraft will be launched into orbit around the planet, featuring new radar technology that will create three-dimensional representations of the planet’s topography and confirm that there is plate tectonics and volcanic activity. It will also record infrared emissions from the surface. The scientific responsibility of the mission will be the Jet Laboratory (JPL) in California, while all three European space services (German, French, Italian) will contribute, building various scientific instruments for the spacecraft.
“It’s amazing how little we know about Venus, but the combined results of the two missions will tell us a lot about the planet, from the clouds in the sky to the volcanoes on its surface and its core. “It would be like rediscovering the planet,” said Tom Wagner, a NASA Discovery scientist.
(Photo source: AMPE / NASA)
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