The European Space Agency has validated the implementation of the EnVision mission. Its aim is to study Venus from almost every angle to understand how this neighbor of the Earth can be so different from our planet.
Man is determined to unlock the secrets of space. And there’s no need to explore the farthest reaches of the universe for that, the planets of our solar system are already mysterious enough. March is most often in the spotlight. Especially when we discover immense deposits of icy water on its surface. But it is not the red planet that interests us here. ESA, the European Space Agency, has indeed validated a mission responsible for flying to Venus.
let’s remember that the star is much closer to Earth than Mars. However, it is much more inhospitable. Completely covered with clouds made up mainly of sulfuric acidthe average temperature at its surface is 492° Celsius. The air pressure is there 92 times greater to that of the Blue Planet. Despite this worrying portrait, this is not the first time that we have explored theEvening Star (which is not one). There NASA and the former Soviet Union approached it between the 60s and 80s. As for Europe, it has already launched Venus Express in 2005. The mission ended in 2014. The upcoming one is called EnVisionAnd she will be the first to analyze what is happening under the surface of Venus thanks to a special radar.
ESA approves a new kind of mission to Venus
The EnVision probe will carry other tools. “A second radar instrument, VenSAR, will map the surface with a resolution of up to 10 meters and determine properties such as surface texture. Three different spectrometers will study the composition of the surface and the atmosphere”. Finally, it will “use radio waves to study the internal structure of the planet and the properties of the atmosphere”. The idea is to understand how this neighbor of the Earth can be so different from her.
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The device will not make the trip on its own. The EnVision mission will be launched at the same time as two others selected by NASA: DAVINCI (Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging) and VERITAS (Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy). “Together, EnVision, DAVINCI and VERITAS will provide the most comprehensive study ever carried out on Venus,” specifies the ESA.