We might be airless to finding out on the nose what ’s start on in the complex atmosphere of Venus . NASA has just approve funding to evolve a concept mission to Venus using a smallCubeSat . The flyspeck investigation will focus on canvas the satellite using ultraviolet illumination ( ultraviolet light ) light .
To the human eye , Venus look covered in featureless cloud . But thanks to missionary work like the Pioneer probe , we get it on that when we look at the major planet in UV , the story is very dissimilar . Dark and light features move around in its upper atmosphere , suggest there ’s something there that is steep one-half of the solar Department of Energy the planet receive , we just do n’t know what it is .
“ Since the maximum absorption of solar vigor by Venus occurs in the ultraviolet illumination , determining the nature , assiduousness , and distribution of the unknown absorber is rudimentary , ” Principal Investigator Valeria Cottini say in astatement . “ This is a extremely - focused delegacy — perfect for a CubeSat program . ”
The missionary post is telephone CUVE , CubeSat ultraviolet light Experiment . It will have an ultraviolet - sensitive spectrometer , which would be able to secernate what kind of mote and elements are flying around in Venus ' clouds .
This is a fairly standard instrument but the team is also think of including more daring tech . Since the of the essence feature of CubeSat is being small and abstemious , every official document needs to be similarly light . So the craft might include an optical telescope with a mirror made of resin and carbon paper nanotubes .
This type of mirror , developed by Peter Chen , is the first ever made with this technique . It is not only weak , it also does n’t ask shining or time - use up shaping operation . The C carbon nanotube are plant in the live rosin , which is then heated in the favourite shape . It is then covered in reflective materials .
The squad is also research more engineering science as well as having a second payload . One of the selling point of a CubeSat commission is the possibilities to send two ( or more ) delegation for a alike cost of a much bigger one .
Venus is a satanic globe with lead - fade temperatures , crushing atmosphere , and acid clouds . This complex world has been very difficult to analyse and the existence of the more man - well-disposed Mars has moderate to a decline public interest in Earth ’s so - called twin . But Venus might say us a peck about terrestrial formation and it deserves to be studied in detail .
