t h e e x p lo ra t io n o f V e n u sc u r r e n t u n d e r s t a n d i n g , o p e n q u e s t i o n s , a n d n e x t s t e p sc o l i n w i l s o n | p a u l b y r n e | r i c h a r d g h a i l | m a r t h a g i l m o r e | s u z a n n e s m r e k a r | a l l a n t r e i m a n | s e a n s o l o m o n
L P S C 2 0 19 | 50 Ye a rs of P la n e ta ry S c ien c e
Slides credit: Paul Byrne (NCSU)
intro d u c tion | Ven u s fr o m afar | th e atm o sp h e re | th e surfa c e | th e interior | su rp risin g find i n g s | op en q u e stion s | n e xt ste p s
t h e e xplorat ion of V e n u s
im a g e cre d it: É de r Ivá n
L P S C 20 19 | 50 Ye a rs of P lan et a ry S c ience
Venus1960s 18
1970s 10
1980s 7
1990s 0
2000s 1
2010s 1
Moon
1950s 13
1960s 63
1970s 22
1980s 0
1990s 4
2000s 11
2010s 13
intro d u c tion | Ven u s fr o m afar | th e atm o sp h e re | th e surfa c e | th e interior | su rp risin g find i n g s | op en q u e stion s | n e xt step s
a n Earth -s ize world in t h e h a b itable z o n e
Mariner 2 (1962)
h i g h t e m p e ratures in lower atm osp h ere
n o resolvable m a g n etic field
Gold stone (1962)
retrog ra d e rotation
8 2% Earth m a s s
95% Earth radiu s
0 .72 A U
L P S C 20 19 | 50 Ye a rs of P lan et a ry S c ience b y rn e et al. |2019.03.20 |3
intro d u c tion | Ven u s fr o m afar | th e atm o sp h e re | th e surfa c e | th e interior | su rp risin g find i n g s | op en q u e stion s | n e xt step s
a s k y b y turns hospitable a n d lethal
Ve g a ba llo o ns (1985)
h i g h ly variab le a t m o s p h eric co n d ition s
Earth - like co n d ition s ~50–65 k m
g lobal c l ou d layer
H 2S O 4 c l ou d s
96.5% C O 2
h i g h D / H ratio
s u p er- rotat ing a t m o s p h ere
L P S C 20 19 | 50 Ye a rs of P lan et a ry S c ience b y rn e et al. |2019.03.20 |4
intro d u c tion | Ven u s fr o m afar | th e atm o sp h e re | th e surfa c e | th e interior | su rp risin g find i n g s | op en q u e stion s | n e xt step s
hell m a d e real
740 K, 93 b a r b a sa ltic lith o l og y
Ve n e ra 13 an d 14 (1982)
p h oto s o f th e surfac e
se d im e n t ary- like roc k s
first reco rdin g of s o u n d o n a n other p lanet
g rou n d im a g e cre d it: M attia s M alm er
L P S C 20 19 | 50 Ye a rs of P lan et a ry S c ience b y rn e et al. |2019.03.20 |5
intro d u c tion | Ven u s fr o m afar | th e atm o sp h e re | th e surfa c e | th e interior | su rp risin g find i n g s | op en q u e stion s | n e xt step s
a wor ld without m o d ern plate tectonics
s o m e volcanic reg ion s co rresp o n dto u p w ellin g
d ifferentiated interiorMagel la n (1990 )
near- g lobal im a g e a n d to p o g ra p hic co vera ge
th icke r crust for so m e high - standin g terrain
d ee p ly co m p e n sated lo w la n d ss u g g e st d o w n w ellin g
im a g e cre d it: N a tion a l G e o g ra p h ic
L P S C 20 19 | 50 Ye a rs of P lan et a ry S c ience b y rn e et al. |2019.03.20 |6
intro d u c tion | Ven u s fr o m afar | th e atm o sp h e re | th e surfa c e | th e interior | su rp risin g find i n g s | op en q u e stion s | n e xt step s
a relatively y o u n g surfa c e ?
n o C aloris/ S PA / H ellas
d istrib ut io n in d ist inguisha ble f rom ra n d o m
Magel la n (1990 )
~90 0 id ent ifie d craters
n on e few er th a n ~3 k m in d ia meter
L P S C 20 19 | 50 Ye a rs of P lan et a ry S c ience b y rn e et al. |2019.03.20 |7
intro d u c tion | Ven u s fr o m afar | th e atm o sp h e re | th e surfa c e | th e interior | su rp risin g find i n g s | op en q u e stion s | n e xt step s
a relatively a c tive surfa c e ?
a c tive volcanism ?
te m p orally variab le S O 2
Ve n u s E x p re ss (20 0 6)
d ete c t io n of transient h o tsp o ts
h ig h e m iss iv ity m a y d en ote re c e n t lavas
im a g e cre d it: h d -w a llp a p ersd o w n lo a d .c o m
L P S C 20 19 | 50 Ye a rs of P lan et a ry S c ience b y rn e et al. |2019.03.20 |8
intro d u c tion | Ven u s fr o m afar | th e atm o sp h e re | th e surfa c e | th e interior | su rp risin g find i n g s | op en q u e stion s | n e xt step s
a relatively m o bi l e su rfac e ?
evid e n c e for lateral m o t io n
Magel la n (1990 )
w id esp read te c tonic d eformatio n
m o re d eformatio n th a n M ercury, Mars, or th e M o o n
L P S C 20 19 | 50 Ye a rs of P lan et a ry S c ience b y rn e et al. |2019.03.20 |9
intro d u c tion | Ven u s fr o m afar | th e atm o sp h e re | th e surfa c e | th e interior | su rp risin g find i n g s | op en q u e stion s | n e xt step s
w h a t d i d e arly V e n u s look lik e ?
Mariner 5 (1967)
P io n e e r Ve n u s (1978 )
p o s sib le loss of a t m o s p heric w ater
formerly p resent o c e a n s?
im a g e cre d it: N A SA/G S F C
L P S C 20 19 | 50 Ye a rs of P lan et a ry S c ience b y rn e et al. |2019.03.20 |10
intro d u c tion | Ven u s fr o m afar | th e atm o sp h e re | th e surfa c e | th e interior | su rp risin g find i n g s | op en q u e stion s | n e xt step s
is there continental cru st?
h i g h ly d efo r m e d terrain
Ve nera 8 (1972)
e levated radio g e n i c e le m e n t a b u n d a n c e s
stratig ra p h ical ly old e st m a t erial
L P S C 20 19 | 50 Ye a rs of P lan et a ry S c ience b y rn e et al. |2019.03.20 |11
intro d u c tion | Ven u s fr o m afar | th e atm o sp h e re | th e surfa c e | th e interior | su rp risin g find i n g s | op en q u e stion s | n e xt step s
t w o Earth -l ike wor lds?
d o these p lanets h ave a shared history?
if n o t, w h y n o t?
w h en d id th e ir p ath s d iverge?
L P S C 20 19 | 50 Ye a rs of P lan et a ry S c ience b y rn e et al. |2019.03.20 |12
im a g e cre d it: N A SA/G S F C
intro d u c tion | Ven u s fr o m afar | th e atm o sp h e re | th e surfa c e | th e interior | su rp risin g find i n g s | op en q u e stion s | n ext step s
so w h e r e d o w e g o f rom here ?
co m p o s ition, evo lut io nof th e a t m o s p h ere
co m p o s itio n of surfac e m a t eria ls
structure (an d a ct iv ity)of th e interior
L P S C 20 19 | 50 Ye a rs of P lan et a ry S c ience b y rn e et al. |2019.03.20 |13
intro d u c tion | Ven u s fr o m afar | th e atm o sp h e re | th e surfa c e | th e interior | su rp risin g find i n g s | op en q u e stion s | n ext step s
w e n e e d to u n d erstan d V e n u s in its o w n r i g h t…
L P S C 20 19 | 50 Ye a rs of P lan et a ry S c ience b y rn e et al. |2019.03.20 |14
intro d u c tion | Ven u s fr o m afar | th e atm o sp h e re | th e surfa c e | th e interior | su rp risin g find i n g s | op en q u e stion s | n ext step s
…but also in terms of how it c o m p a r e s with other wor lds , b e c a u s e :
L P S C 20 19 | 50 Ye a rs of P lan et a ry S c ience b y rn e et al. |2019.03.20 |15
intro d u c tion | Ven u s fr o m afar | th e atm o sp h e re | th e surfa c e | th e interior | su rp risin g find i n g s | op en q u e stion s | n ext step s
V e n u s w ill he l p u s u n d e r s t a n d the rules that g o v e r n E a rth -l ike worlds
L P S C 20 19 | 50 Ye a rs of P lan et a ry S c ience b y rn e et al. |2019.03.20 |16
intro d u c tion | Ven u s fr o m afar | th e atm o sp h e re | th e surfa c e | th e interior | su rp risin g find i n g s | op en q u e stion s | n ext step sVenus exploration vehicles: a range of platforms for different science goals
European Venus Explorer (EVE): a balloon mission in the heart of the habitable layer
• Helium superpressure balloon, 53-57 km float altitude.
• Follows heritage of French/Soviet Vega balloons (1984)
• Benefit from benign climate: 10 – 50 °C, atmospheric densities like those found at 0 to 5 km altitude on Earth.
• Ideal platform for trace gas mass spectrometry (thermally stable)
• Explore clouds of liquid water (albeit mixed with sulphuric acid).
• Use high winds of 200-250 km/h to circumnavigate the planet in 5-8 days.
T. Balint
thriving in the clouds
3. Mobile robotics
1. Short-duration (~ 1 hr) Venera-style landers
2. High-temperature ambient-temperature landers
a pathway to surface operations
EnVision Venus orbiter
Finallist in ESA’s M5 Space Science mission competition
Strong NASA participation (being defined)
Currently entering phase A study (2019-2021)
Selection expected summer 2021.
Launch in 2032
Aerobraking 2033 - 2035
Nominal science mission 2035-2038
Three science themesActivity – How geologically active is Venus today?
History – How have Venus’ surface and interior evolved?
Climate – How did Venus’ atmosphere become so hostile?
EnVision radar: the value of spatial resolution
• Radar has come a long way since the 1980s when Magellan radar was developed.• Magellan radar spatial resolution was 100 m at best.• Modern radar could enable spatial resolution approaching 1 – 5 m.• Modern radar has lower noise, better radiometric resolution, clearer imagery.
Mars at 150 m/pxl (Viking) 20 m / pxl (MGS) 1 m/pxl (MRO)
EnVision : much more than just high-res radar
VenSpec-UMapping SO, SO2 and UV absorber at cloud top. 210–240 nm (@ 0·2 nm), 190–380 nm (@ 2 nm), ~10 km spatial resolution
VenSpec-HMapping of near surface atmosphere H2O, HDO at 0–15 km @1·08–1·2 μm, H2O, HDO, OCS, SO2 at 30–40 km @ 2·44–2·47 μm, ~100 km spatial resolution
VenSpec-MMapping mineralogy by surface emission at 6 channels 0·82–1·2 μm at <50 km resolution
VenSARSurface morphology, 1–30 m, polarimetry, cm changes by DInSAR @ 3·2 GHz, 5 × 38 km radiometry at 1 K precision,
SRSSubsurface radar down to 1000 m depth and ~10 m resolution @ 9 MHz
Radio ScienceTwo-way mapping, radio occultations, gravity field, k₂ love number
base image © C. Hamilton
EnVision science payload
EnVision warmly invites your participation and support.
More information: www.envisionvenus.eu
Lead proposer: Richard Ghail (Royal Holloway)
Deputy Leads: Colin Wilson (Oxford U) & Thomas Widemann (Paris Obs)
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