In the next ten years, NASA's DAVINCI mission plans to send a descent sphere through Venus' atmosphere to collect samples and gather high-resolution images of the planet's surface.
(Photo : Bill Ingalls/NASA via Getty Images))
WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 2: In this handout image provided by the U.S. National Aeronatics and Space Administration (NASA), Administrator Bill Nelson talks to the agency's workforce during his first state of NASA event at NASA headquarters in the Mary W. Jackson Building June 2, 2021 in Washington, DC.
It is known that the planet Venus is inhospitable because of its hot temperatures. Now, NASA has revealed more detailed about the instruments that will be used for the DAVINCI mission and how they will gather data.
DAVINCI'S VASI
VASI is an instrument that will be used for the DAVINCI mission. It stands for Venus Atmospheric Structure Investigation (VASI). The instrument will take readings of the atmosphere as the sphere drops through the atmosphere on its 63-minute-long fall to the surface, which will collect data on temperature, pressure, wind speed, and direction.
With this data, it will help answer long-open questions about the atmosphere of Venus.
In a statement, the lead for the VASI instrument, Ralph Lorenz of the John Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory said, "There are actually some big puzzles about the deep atmosphere of Venus. We don't have all the pieces of that puzzle and DAVINCI will give us those pieces by measuring the composition at the same time as the pressure and temperature as we get near the surface."
The instrument will collect data using a temperature sensor encased in a metal tube like a straw to protect it from the atmosphere. In addition, the atmospheric sensor uses a silicone membrane stretched over a vacuum to detect distortions caused by pressure.
There are other sensors in VASI, such as accelerometers and gyroscopes for measuring the wind that will be kept safe inside the thick atmosphere.
All About Venus' Conditions
Venus is not habitable to human beings because of its dense and corrosive atmosphere. Its surface is hot and dry, as surface temperatures range from 250 to 462 degrees Celsius. And because the planet is about twice the distance from the Sun than Earth, it is also covered by a thick blanket of clouds that trap heat.
Aside from being the brightest planet, Venus is the third-brightest celestial object in the sky after the Sun and the Moon, which makes it an ideal target for astronomers.
The planet is visible to the naked eye during the morning and evening, sometimes appearing as a brilliant "evening star." It shows phases like the Moon, ranging from crescent through gibbous to full.
Scientists believe that Venus might have had oceans and seas when it first formed. They also believe that Venus may have once been similar to Earth, with active plate tectonics, a magnetosphere and natural satellites.
However, geochemical decoupling between the mantle and crust, as well as a runaway greenhouse effect, may have turned the planet into a hellish world.
Related Article: NASA's DAVINCI Mission Wil Dive Through Venus' Thick Toxic Atmosphere
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Written by April Fowell
