A reputation by Keith Cooper inAstrobiology Magazinesays that US and Russian scientists may explore for life on Venus by sending a balloon or glider into its atmosphere in 2025 .
The foreign mission is called Venera - D , which has been on - and - off - again for quite a while . Butback in 2015 , after a abatement in its development , the US and Russia began discourse the project again . And the mission could be used to study dark streak in the Venusian atmosphere , which may have a biological origin .
There ’s growing grounds that Venus once had ahabitable surroundings , with enquiry suggest it supported oceans on its Earth’s surface billions of years ago before it move through a runaway nursery effect that turned it into the hot major planet in the Solar System .
Today , Venus is a hellish world with a Earth’s surface temperature of 462 ° C ( 864 ° degree Fahrenheit ) , sulphuric dose rain , and a aerofoil air pressure corresponding to standing at the bottom of the ocean owe to its thick atmosphere . Between 50 and 60 kilometers ( 31 and 37 miles ) above its surface , though , there be a isthmus in the atmosphere with a temperature and pressure similar to Earth , bluster some of the most solid ground - like conditions of any planet .
And in this band , scientist have get dingy streaks – part immerse more ultraviolet light than others – that have an unknown origin . One proposed theory is particulate matter flux into the clouds . A more exciting hypothesis , though , is that the streaks are the result of biological activity from microbic sprightliness lofted high into the standard pressure .
Artist ’s imprint of a proposed airy fomite to explore the Venusian atmosphere called the Venus Atmospheric Maneuverable Platform ( VAMP ) . Northrop Grumman
“ Finding life sentence at gamy elevation in the aura of a planet would make sense . After all , microbe have been found at similar heights in Earth ’s atmosphere , ” writes Cooper , who talk to a member of the Venera - cholecalciferol team , Sanjay Limaye from the University of Wisconsin . “ Life could potentially survive in this zone [ 50 to 60 kilometers high ] where the dark - streaking ultraviolet radiation absorber is find . ”
Venera - D would potentially consist of some sort of aerial vehicle to research this part , in addition to a minuscule sub - artificial satellite . According to Cooper , the former would be either a balloon or a solar - powered unmanned airy vehicle ( UAV ) . A UAV , gliding through the atmosphere between areas of in high spirits press , would have a better chance of studying the Earth - like band of the atmosphere than a balloon .
Sending a balloon into the atmosphere of Venus would not be unprecedented – Russia did just that with its Vega 1 and 2 missions in the 1980s , follow on from the successful Venera landers . But a UAV would be unique , give us a fascinating insight .
Whether this military mission will see the light of 24-hour interval is n’t readable , with a composition expect this month and a decision at the last of the year . But if it does , well , things could get rather exciting .
( H / T : Astrobiology Magazine )
