Why Venus will become the most interesting place in the solar system

it’s hot. Its atmosphere is toxic. Turn in the opposite direction It is covered with volcanoes. Previouslylinen will be where We’ll go soon. Three missions to Venus announced Recently by NASA and the European Space Agency, the It will reveal more than we have ever discovered about him planet, The Which many scholars describe as the evil twin of the Earth.

Over the past weeks, NASA has given the green light for two missions to Venus, the mission Truth, honesty And the task Da Vinci +, while the European Space Agency announced that it will send a file orbit call Imagine. Scientists Already appear Excited about the possibilities that’s why we decided to talk With different experts to help us understand Why did it turn out to be Venus so interesting.

“Until now I started to absorb What does this mean,” he told us Paul Byrne, a planetary scientist at North Carolina State University. “I will go crazy every time Graduation of a new paper“. on the principleHe said, The reason for our return to Venus is to understand why The planet “is our brother, not our twin.”

“How do you have a planet roughly the same size as Earth, presumably made of the same material, with same formationspin Same star, same age? How do you have two worlds which is the same about The role, but are they really different?“ explained Bern. “EnVision, VERITAS and DAVINCI+ will provide a solid foundation and amazing About how I will approachWe ask this question.”

the mission NASA’s VERITAS consists of orbital vehicle you will see Through the thick clouds of Venus to understand what it is Topography of the planet, its chemistry surface and will decompose even deeper the planet to understand its geological processes. The second mission of the agency, DAVINCI+ consists of a probe that descends through the atmosphere of Venus, and takes samples of it its composition their chemistry wind and pressure and will take up High-resolution images of a region of the planet, which is a huge improvement considering that photographs of its surface are more Last Veron went too farAs for the USSR missions for nearly 40 years. the mission Visualize ESA is also around orbital vehicle, which Examination of the interior and atmosphere of the planet, complete the objectives of these two NASA missions. everybodys . missions will be launched Between 2038 and 2031.

“I was like Atollundrada “All day after hearing the announcement,” said Katie Cooper, a planetary scientist at the university. from Washington and specializes in tectonic evolution. “I really wants To learn more about the plateaus of Venus that are about to Interesting but challenging analogues of Earth’s Great Plateaus. On Earth, plateaus such as the Tibetan Plateau or the Highland Plateau have their origin in plate tectonics, but on Venus this may be It wouldn’t be like that.”

Cooper added that what we learn “will not only give us an idea of ​​Venus, but also of earlier terrestrial tectonic periods as well.” alone together tectonic plate“.

Venus is covered in accidents flexible landcalled ss Tsilas. These tiles form a big lines Such as Alpha Regio, an expansive plateau twice the size of Spain and who – which probe Da Vinci+ Go for photography. Until now, the tiles have been a mystery to the scientists who didn’t The data indicates how it was formed Or how old they are.

“Currently ewe are with venus how andwe were with Mars in the ’80s, said Byrne, and in the years since, we’ve come to understand Mars is a much more complex and interesting world. And I have no doubt that this is what will happen with Venus.”.

Then there are volcanoes. These are the huge warts that we see The surface of the planet can be inactive or persist تزال Energetic. It’s another aspect that we don’t understand much about of the planet, which is covered up In the clouds we did not see Close A NASA instrument from the Magellan missionThat ended in 1994. Lava DrThe planet and its role in shaping the surface of Venus we do not have understand and generate serious discussions.

Like a volcanologistI’m so intrigued Volcanic processes that occurred (So ​​what They may still be happening!) on Venus,” said Einat Lev, a seismologist and volcanologist from Columbia University. lava domes! Long lava flows! . covered surface wash! How can we not be excited?! “

Leif added, “I’m sure The new observations of the surface of Venus that the task You will collect VERITAS They will teach us a lot about all these unique processes and potentially intense volcanic activity (i.e. high pressure, high temperature, very liquid lava) present in The earth is now and what was in the past.

Another puzzle to solve Is Venus’s dense atmosphere, a CO2 blanket and sulfuric acid clouds Which so far hid some of the most interesting answers about the nature of this Planeta. Da Vinci+ Will aim to explore that mysterious and mysterious soupAnd the Configuration measurement and Specifically the structure of the atmosphere: “What is it and where is it”, to quote Hannah Wakeford, an astrophysicist specializing in the atmospheres of exoplanets from University of Bristol.

“to You will be surprised One of the things we can understand from these two simple things الأمر ThingsWakeford said. “This will tell us how is everythingAtmosphere is preserved united. impact Bottom near the ground to what we measure high in the clouds? If that happens, this will have major implications for the measurements we can make Atmosphere of exoplanets, where we see only the upper part of ambiance. Venus can tell us whether what we are measuring can give us more information about Earth conditions and whether they are similar or different from our planet.”

you might remember That last year there was a certain thing commotion About the apparent discovery of phosphine, a potential biological fingerprint, in some clouds Venusian atmosphere. The initial enthusiasm quickly waned When we saw that a file Can’t get results again. Venus is not a great candidate for It harbors alien life, unlike anywhere else in the solar system, like some of the ocean’s nearby moons Saturn and Jupiter. But there are some scientists who still argue that microbial life can exist in the clouds of Venus. Suggest a modern climate model for NASA That Venus may have been habitable in its early history and even was Oceans of liquid water, though today It didn’t exist Signals those oceans. “Loss The oceans may have been geologically recent, perhaps during “The last billion years,” said David Grinspoon, an astrobiologist at the Planetary Science Institute.. “This means that our solar system”may be“ to have two planets with shallow oceans and life, lying side by side, for most of the history of the solar system.”

The next three missions are likely to help improve We understood whether the existence of life time On Venus, but none of them will search frankly tests of the existence of life.

There are many confusing features on Venus that scientists are eager to see interpreted and displayed Equally intrigued by what these characteristics might be تكون Reveal the evolution of the Earth to The oasis that is today. The good thing about doing a DNA test on your brother, Certainly, is to also learn about yourself in the operation.