Evidence of active volcanoes on Venus
Scientists have detected Venusian lava flows possibly only decades old.
Scientists have detected Venusian lava flows possibly only decades old.
Tag: Venus
Evidence of active volcanoes on Venus
A wish list of spectacular future planetary missions
Steve Squyres of Cornell University and the project scientist of the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity spoke today at an astrobiology symposium in Arlington, Virginia. He described several spectacular planetary missions that might be flown in the coming decade. All are being considered. None have yet been chosen or funded.
- A mission to grab a sample from a comet and return it to Earth.
- A mission to put a rover or lander on one of the poles of Mars to study the frozen layers of water under the icecap.
- Mars sample return mission. This mission is so difficult and expensive that it probably would be broken down into three parts:
- Two rovers on the surface to gather and cache sample material.
- A lander/rover mission to grab the samples and bring them up to Mars orbit. “Putting into orbit a precious cargo the size of a coconut,” Squyres said.
- A mission to grab the sample cargo in Martian orbit and return it to Earth.
- An orbiter to study both Jupiter and its moon Europa.
- An orbiter to Enceladus, the moon of Saturn, to study the water and organic chemistry in its mysterious plumes.
- An orbiter to Titan, with balloon to probe the atmosphere as well as a “lake lander, a boat” to study Titan’s lakes.
- A variety of landers and rovers to go to Venus. One of the more astonishing mission concepts would land, then take off again to visit different places on the surface.
Squyres is the co-chair of a committee of the National Science Foundation that is right now putting together a decadal survey for outlining unmanned planetary research for the next decade. This survey is expected to be released in March, which is when we will find out which of the above missions the planetary science community prefers.
The atmosphere of Venus is 60% less dense at its poles
By diving into the upper atmosphere of Venus above its north pole, Venus Express has found that the atmosphere there is 60% less dense than predicted. This from a press conference going on right now at the 42nd meeting of the AAS Division for Planetary Sciences. They plan an additional dive campaign during the next month. And they plan more dives, going deeper each time, as they judge the consequences to the spacecraft each time.
To read the abstracts of the Venus Express papers, go here.
Updated: The full press release, with images, can be seen here.
By diving into the upper atmosphere of Venus above its north pole, Venus Express has found that the atmosphere there is 60% less dense than predicted. This from a press conference going on right now at the 42nd meeting of the AAS Division for Planetary Sciences. They plan an additional dive campaign during the next month. And they plan more dives, going deeper each time, as they judge the consequences to the spacecraft each time.
To read the abstracts of the Venus Express papers, go here.
Updated: The full press release, with images, can be seen here.
The double vortex at Venus’s south pole is gone
Using data accumulated over the past four years by Venus Express, scientists have shown that the giant double vortex storm at Venus’s south pole was only a temporary phenomenon. You can download the actual paper here [pdf]. Key quote from the paper:
The polar region of Venus shows a dynamics regime quite different than the rest of the planet, with a separation region delimited by the cold collar zone. Average wind speeds presents an almost solid body rotation, while instantaneous view highlights the complex dynamic structure with air flowing almost toward all directions. The so called dipole shape is not a stable feature and the morphology of the vortex is significantly variable on both short and long timescales.
The “cold collar” is an atmospheric ring of colder temperatures that encircles the planet’s poles.
Using data accumulated over the past four years by Venus Express, scientists have shown that the giant double vortex storm at Venus’s south pole was only a temporary phenomenon. You can download the actual paper here [pdf]. Key quote from the paper:
The polar region of Venus shows a dynamics regime quite different than the rest of the planet, with a separation region delimited by the cold collar zone. Average wind speeds presents an almost solid body rotation, while instantaneous view highlights the complex dynamic structure with air flowing almost toward all directions. The so called dipole shape is not a stable feature and the morphology of the vortex is significantly variable on both short and long timescales.
The “cold collar” is an atmospheric ring of colder temperatures that encircles the planet’s poles.
Active volcanoes on Venus?
Evidence continues to build that volcanic activity on Venus has occurred in the very recent past, and might even be going on today.
Evidence continues to build that volcanic activity on Venus has occurred in the very recent past, and might even be going on today.