Shukrayaan: ISRO’s Venus Mission

Venus is the second planet from the sun and is the hottest in our solar system.

Shukrayaan -1 is a proposed mission to the fiery planet, Venus which is also known as Shukra. Based on the success of Chandrayaan and the Mangalyan ISRO has been studying the feasibility of future interplanetary missions which includes Venus. Venus is the second planet from the sun and is the hottest in our solar system.

Surface condition of Venus

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The closest planetary neighbor to earth Venus has a very dense atmosphere. The surface temperature of Venus goes up to 470 degrees celsius making it the hottest planet of the solar system and the pressure on Venus’ surface is 90 times more than the surface of the earth, no human or spacecraft can survive in these conditions.

These conditions make Venus inhabitable but recent discoveries suggest that life can still exist on the fiery planet. Around 50 kilometers above the surface Venus’s temperature and pressure are similar to the surface of the earth.

Signs of microbial life

Scientists observed signs of microbial life in that region with the new science of life on Venus. ISRO proposed a mission to venus which will orbit the planet and focus on the chemistry of its atmosphere the mission will study the surface atmospheric chemistry and the interaction of Venus’s atmosphere.

In September 2020, a team of International Astronomers discovered the presence of phosphine gas in the atmosphere of Venus. The European space Agency Mission, Venus Express had earlier found signs of ozone in the upper atmosphere of Venus in 2011.

These are considered as biomarkers, that is, possibility of presence of life forms in the planet.
It is a colourless gas. It is highly reactive and flammable. It is present in the Earth’s atmosphere in traces. This is because it is rapidly destroyed by Oxygen.

Highlights

The VIRAL (Venus Infrared Atmospheric Gases Linker) instrument co-developed with the Russian federal space agency Roscosmos and the LATMOS atmospheres, environments and space observations laboratory attached to the French national scientific research centre CNRS has been selected by the ISRO after a request for proposals

With solar radiation and solar winds, the spacecraft will be launched by ISRO’s most advanced rocket GSLV mark iii Shukrayaan -1 will be able to carry 100 kg and around 16 Indian and a 7 international payloads have been shortlisted to orbit around the Venus.

So far, 42 Venus missions have been sent to Venus from planet Earth. Japan’s Akatsuki is currently flying around Venus.

The mission is to study atmospheric chemistry, compositional variations and dynamics of Planet Venus. Earlier, the mission was scheduled to be launched in 2023.

The ISRO has short-listed 20 space-based experiment proposals, including from France, for its proposed Venus orbiter mission ‘Shukrayaan’ to study the planet for more than four years.

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