Credit: NASA
In a recent article in The Planetary Science Journalscientists and engineers at NASA give new details about the agency’s Noble Gas, Chemistry and Deep Atmosphere Research (DAVINCI) Research Mission, which will descend through the atmosphere into layers of Venus to the surface of the planet in mid-2031. DAVINCI is the first mission to study Venus using both spacecraft overflights and a descent probe.
DAVINCI, a flying laboratory of analytical chemistry, will for the first time measure critical aspects of the massive atmosphere-climate system of Venus, many of which have been measurement targets for Venus since the early 1980s. It will also provide the first image of the descent of the mountainous lands of Venus as it maps its rock composition and surface relief to scales that are not possible from orbit. The mission supports measurements of undiscovered gases present in small quantities and the deeper atmosphere, including the key proportion of hydrogen isotopes, components of water that help reveal the history of water, either as oceans of liquid water or steam within the primitive atmosphere.
The mission’s carrier, relief, and image spacecraft (CRIS) has two instruments on board that will study the planet’s clouds and map their high areas during Venus’ overflights, and will also drop a small descent probe with five instruments that will provide a set of new measurements with very high accuracy during their descent to the infernal surface of Venus.
“This set of chemical, environmental, and descent imaging data will paint a picture of the atmosphere of Venus in layers and how it interacts with the surface of the Alpha Regio Mountains, which is twice the size of Texas.” said Jim Garvin, lead author. of the paper in the Planetary Science Journal and principal investigator DAVINCI of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “These measures will allow us to assess historical aspects of the atmosphere, as well as detect special types of rocks on the surface, such as granite, while looking for revealing landscape features that can inform us about erosion or other formation processes.”
DAVINCI will use three Venus gravity assists, which save fuel by using the planet’s gravity to change the speed and / or direction of the CRIS flight system. The first two gravity aids will set up CRIS for a flyby of Venus to perform remote sensing in the near ultraviolet and infrared light, acquiring more than 60 gigabits of new data on the atmosphere and surface. Venus’ third gravity assistance will set up the spacecraft to release the probe for entry, descent, science, and landing, as well as tracking transmission to Earth.
The first flyby of Venus will be six and a half months after launch, and it will take two years to put the probe into position to enter the atmosphere over Alpha Regio with ideal “high noon” lighting, with the goal of measure the landscapes of Venus. Venus on scales ranging from 328 feet (100 meters) to finer than a meter. These ladders allow for geological studies in the style of landing on the mountains of Venus without the need to land.
Once the CRIS system is about two days away from Venus, the probe’s flight system will be released along with the three-foot (one meter) diameter titanium probe securely enclosed inside. The spacecraft will begin interacting with Venus’ upper atmosphere about 75 miles (120 kilometers) above the surface. The scientific probe will begin scientific observations after launching its heat shield about 67 kilometers (42 miles) above the surface. With the heat shield released, probe entrances will ingest atmospheric gas samples for detailed chemical measurements of the type made on Mars with the Curiosity rover. During its hour-long descent to the surface, the probe will also acquire hundreds of images as soon as it comes out from under the clouds at about 100,000 feet (30,500 meters) above the local surface.
“The probe will land in the Alpha Regio Mountains, but it doesn’t have to work once it lands, as all the necessary scientific data will be taken before it reaches the surface,” said Stephanie Getty, Goddard’s assistant principal investigator. “If we survive the landing at about 25 miles per hour (12 meters / second), we could have up to 17-18 minutes of surface operations in ideal conditions.”
DAVINCI is tentatively scheduled to launch in June 2029 and enter the Venusian atmosphere in June 2031.
“No previous mission to the atmosphere of Venus has measured the chemistry or the environment with the detail that the DAVINCI spacecraft can do,” Garvin said. “In addition, no previous Venus missions have landed on the highlands of Venus, and none have taken pictures of Venus’ surface descent. DAVINCI will be based on what the Huygens spacecraft did to Titan and will improve what they have previous Venus field missions, but with 21st century capabilities and sensors “.
Meet VMS: the chemistry lab the size of a briefcase for Venus More info: James B. Garvin et al, Revealing the Mysteries of Venus: The DAVINCI Mission, The Planetary Science Journal (2022). DOI: 10.3847 / PSJ / ac63c2
Quote: NASA’s DAVINCI mission to make its way through the massive atmosphere of Venus (2022, June 2) recovered on June 4, 2022
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