In a paper recently published in The Planetary Science Journal, NASA scientists and engineers give new details about the agency's Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Immunology mission, which will descend through the layers of the Venus atmosphere to the surface of the planet in mid-July. The first mission to study Venus uses both flybys and descent probes.
DAVINCI, a flying analytical chemistry laboratory, will measure critical aspects of Venus's massive atmosphere-climate system for the first time. It will give the first descent image of the mountainous highlands of Venus while mapping their rock composition and surface relief that are not possible from the ground. The mission supports the measurement of undiscovered gases present in small amounts and the deepest atmosphere, as well as the key ratio of hydrogen strontium, a component of water that helps reveal the history of water.
The CRIS has two onboard instruments that will study the planet's clouds and map its highland areas during flybys of Venus, as well as a small descent probe with five instruments that will provide a lot of new data.
Jim Garvin, lead author of the paper in the Planetary Science Journal, said that the data will show a picture of the Venus atmosphere and how it interacts with the mountains of Alpha Regio. We will be able to evaluate historical aspects of the atmosphere and detect special rock types at the surface such as granites, while also looking for tell-tale landscape features that could tell us about erosion or other formational processes.
Three Venus gravity assists will be used to save fuel by changing the direction of the CRIS flight system. CRIS will be set up for a Venus flyby by the first two gravity assists and will be able to acquire over 60 gigabits of new data. The third Venus gravity assist will allow for entry, descent, science, and touchdown.
It will take two years to get the probe into position for entry into the atmosphere over Alpha Regio, which will be six and half months after launch. In the mountains of Venus, landers can conduct geologic studies without landing.
The probe flight system will be released once the CRIS system is close to Venus. The probe will start interacting with the Venus upper atmosphere at about 120 kilometers above the surface. After dropping its heat shield above the surface, the science probe will begin observing. With the heat shield gone, the probe's inlets will be able to take atmospheric gas samples to measure chemistry. During its hour-long descent to the surface, the probe will acquire hundreds of images as soon as it emerges under the clouds.
All of the required science data will be taken before the probe lands, as it is not required to operate once it lands. We could have up to 18 minutes of operations on the surface if we survive the touchdown at 25 miles per hour.
The Venusian atmosphere is expected to be reached in June 2031.
No previous mission within the Venus atmosphere has measured the chemistry or environments at the detail that DAVINCI's probe can do. There have been no previous Venus missions to descend over the tesserae highlands of Venus. In situ Venus missions have done a number of things, but with 21st century capabilities and sensors.
More information: James B. Garvin et al, Revealing the Mysteries of Venus: The DAVINCI Mission, The Planetary Science Journal (2022). DOI: 10.3847/PSJ/ac63c2 Journal information: The Planetary Science Journal
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