NASA wants to send a mission to Venus. Proposed to launch in 2026, the mission Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography & Spectroscopy, or VERITAS, aims to investigate how Earth and Venus, which started in very similar ways, evolved to be very different today.
“Venus is like this cosmic gift of an accident,” said Suzanne Smrekar, VERITAS principal investigator at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in a statement. “You have these two planetary bodies, Earth and Venus, which started almost the same way but have gone through two completely different evolutionary paths, but we don’t know why.”
To find out how the two planets diverged, VERITAS would collect data on the geology of Venus, observing how its tectonic plates move on the planet’s mantle. It would also capture topographic maps of the surface to show features like faults and plateaus, which could provide scientists with data on how Earth’s equivalent continents were formed.
Another great topic of study for the mission is the abundant volcanic activity of Venus. “Determining if Venus is actively experiencing volcanic activity and understanding what process is driving it is one of the really exciting questions that I would love to see answered,” said Jennifer Whitten, VERITAS team member.
The spacecraft would investigate volcanic activity using a spectrometer to identify rocks that recently formed from magma coming out from under the crust. Analysis of these newly formed rocks would allow scientists to see more of the chemical processes that occur below the planet’s surface without their results being affected by the time the rocks were sitting exposed.
A big open-ended question about Venus is whether it still has large amounts of water inside it. “To unravel the mysteries of Venus, we have to look under the hood at the inside of Venus; it is the engine of global atmospheric and geological evolution, ”said Smrekar. “Are Venus and Earth fundamentally unique worlds? Or are the differences between these ‘cufflinks’ just cosmetic? Answering this question is key to understanding what makes other rocky planets habitable and ultimately emerge with life. “
The VERITAS mission is part of NASA’s Discovery Program that invites proposals for innovative ways to investigate objects in our solar system, including planets like Venus. NASA will make a decision on which of the proposed Discovery missions will be fully funded in 2021.
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