About Venus | UPSC Current Affairs

Description

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Context

The United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration announced DAVINCI+ and VERITAS missions to the planet in 2028-30 under its Discovery Program.

Discovery Program

The Discovery Programis a series of Solar System exploration
It is funded by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA).
The Discovery Program was founded in 1990.
VERITAS and DAVINCI are the most recently selected Discovery Missions.

DAVINCI

About

DAVINCI (Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging) is a planned mission for planet Venus.

Mandate

DAVINCI will send an orbiter and a descent probe to the planet Venus.
The orbiter will take images of the planet Venus in multiple wavelengths up from the above.
The descent probe will study the chemical composition of Venus's atmosphere and take photographs during descent.
DAVINCI spacecraft will travel through the Venusian atmosphere. It will sample the atmosphere, and the return with data and measurements down to the surface.
The DAVINCI probe will capture high-resolution images of the planet's ridged terrain ("tesserae").
It will also collect data for studying the
origin of the planet Venus.
its tectonic and
weathering history.

Significance

The measurements taken by DAVINCI will help in investigating the possible history of water on Venus.
It will also help in detecting the chemical processes that are at work in the unexplored lower atmosphere.
The above mentioned measurements are important to understanding the origin of the atmosphere of the planet Venus.
It will study how the atmosphere of Venus has evolved, and how and why it is different from the atmosphere of Earth and Mars.

VERITAS Mission

About

VERITAS(Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy) is an upcoming mission to map the surface of planet Venus in high resolution.

Mandate

VERITAS will gather data from the planet Venus. This data will help scientists to answer three primary questions about the planet.

VERITAS will collect data to help answer these questions in several ways.

Using an X-band radar, high-resolution imagery of the planet Venus will be obtained. The Radar will be configured as a single pass interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR).

InSAR

Interferometric synthetic aperture radar, abbreviated InSAR (or deprecated IfSAR), is a radar technique used in geodesy and remote sensing. This geodetic method uses two or more synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images to generate maps of surface deformation or digital elevation, using differences in the phase of the waves returning to the satellite or aircraft. The technique can potentially measure millimeter-scale changes in deformation over spans of days to years. It has applications for geophysical monitoring of natural hazards, for example earthquakes, volcanoes and landslides, and in structural engineering, in particular monitoring of subsidence and structural stability.

This X-Band radar data will be further coupled with a multispectral near-infrared (NIR) emissivity mapping capability.

MULTISPECTRAL IMAGING

Multispectral imaging captures image data within specific wavelength ranges across the electromagnetic spectrum. The wavelengths may be separated by filters or detected with the use of instruments that are sensitive to particular wavelengths, including light from frequencies beyond the visible light range, i.e. infrared and ultra-violet. It can allow extraction of additional information the human eye fails to capture with its visible receptors for red, green and blue. It was originally developed for military target identification and reconnaissance. Early space-based imaging platforms incorporated multispectral imaging technology to map details of the Earth related to coastal boundaries, vegetation, and landforms.^[2] Multispectral imaging has also found use in document and painting analysis.

Multispectral imaging measures light in a small number (typically 3 to 15) of spectral bands.

VERITAS will map surface topography with a spatial resolution of 250m and 5m vertical accuracy, and generate radar imagery with 30m spatial resolution.
With this high-resolution imaging data scientists will be able to
locate active volcanic eruptions.
understand the age and composition of features on the planet's surface, and
better understand the overall geology of Venus.
To investigate variations in Venus' gravitational field the spacecraft's communication system will be used to perform a gravity science experiment.
The gravity strength at Venus' surface will be measured by the spacecraft's telecom system.
Estimate of Venus' core size and information about topographic features that lie underneath the planet's surface will be generated from this data.

Significance

Size, age, and composition of Venus are more or less similar to the Earth.
But the environment of Venus is significantly different and less hospitable to life.
Therefore, understanding Venus's geologic evolution will help in answering questions like formation of Venus and whether it is hospitable to life or not.
An investigation of Venus's current geology would be a key step in developing an understanding of this evolution.

PRELIMS PRACTICE QUESTION

Q. Choose the correct answer with reference to the following statements.

A. VERITAS will map the surface topography of Venus with a spatial resolution of 1000 m and 50m vertical accuracy, and generate radar imagery with 500 m spatial resolution.

B. DAVINCI probe will travel through the Martian atmosphere, sampling the atmosphere, and returning measurements down to the surface.

1. A only

2. B only

3. Both A and B

4. Neither A nor B

Answer: 4