By Sanjeev Kumar Patro
Bhubaneswar: Space lovers and planetary science enthusiasts were on cloud nine after the Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the development of Venus Orbiter Mission (VOM).
The VOM plans to send a scientific spacecraft in the orbit of planet Venus for better understanding/evaluating the Venusian surface and subsurface, atmospheric processes and influence of Sun on Venusian atmosphere. The mission is expected to be accomplished in March 2028.
As of now, 44 missions to planet Venus have been planned by only 3 countries (Russia, USA and Japan), and one by European Union. Of which, 29 were successful, the rest doomed. (View the images below).
Three furure missions are planned, 2 by USA in 2029 and 2031 and 1 by European Space Agency (ESA) in 2030. (View the image below).
WHY VENUS MISSION ENTHUSING?
A look at a NASA study shows Venus, the closest planet to Earth, became an inferno-like world when it has many, many characteristics similar to Earth and the planet, and for which, might have been the first habitable world in the solar system, complete with an ocean and Earth-like climate.
HOW IS VENUS?
A look at NASA data shows that the probe that survived the longest in the fiery atmosphere on Venus has been of the then Soviet Union. It could survive on the Venus surface for two hours. And the photos snapped before the landers get roasted reveals the following.
- Barren, dim, and rocky landscape
- The sky has likely some shade of sulfur yellow
- Venus has valleys and high mountains dotted with thousands of volcanoes.
- Its surface features – most named for both real and mythical women – include Ishtar Terra, a rocky, highland area around the size of Australia near the north pole
- A larger, South-America-sized region called Aphrodite Terra that stretches across the equator. One mountain reaches 36,000 feet (11 kilometers), higher than Mt. Everest.
- A volcanic crater observed and named Sacajawea for Lewis and Clark’s Native American guide.
- A deep canyon located and named Diana for the Roman goddess of the hunt.
- “Pancake” domes with flat tops and steep sides, as wide as 38 miles (62 kilometers) visualized, likely formed by the extrusion of highly viscous lava.
- “Tick” domes, odd volcanoes with radiating spurs. Named Tick as they look like their blood-feeding namesake.
- Tesserae, terrain with intricate patterns of ridges and grooves that suggest the scorching temperatures make rock behave in some ways more like peanut butter beneath a thin and strong chocolate layer on Venus.
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