Why Venus? Yet at some point in planetary history, the two started to evolve very differently. Venus today is far too hot to host liquid water at its surface, but it may have had a more Earth-like climate for billions of years before developing a runaway greenhouse effect.
Hence, Venus provides a natural laboratory for studying how habitability — or the lack of it — evolved in the Solar System. For summaries of these missions and their scientific achievements, see Past missions to Venus. Dimensions: Envision will be a roughly rectangular three-axis stabilised satellite weighing 4. It was adopted on 25 January Launch: Envision is targeting a launch in November Journey and orbit: Envision will reach Venus after a month cruise.
Lifetime: Total nominal science period of six Venus sidereal days four Earth years , with possible extension. The radio science experiment is led by institutes in France and Germany. Envision will combine observations at ultraviolet, infrared, microwave and high frequency radio wavelengths to study geological and atmospheric processes at a range of scales, from the core to the upper atmosphere of Venus.
The spacecraft will follow up on unanswered questions raised by earlier missions to the planet including ESA's Venus Express , which focused on atmospheric research but revealed an enigmatic planetary surface with signs of geological activity. Recent research strongly suggests that the evolution of the atmosphere and interior of Venus are coupled, emphasising the need to study the atmosphere, surface, and interior of Venus as a system.
You have already liked this page, you can only like it once! Overview of the Envision mission. How geologically and tectonically active is Venus today, and how active has it been over the past billion years? How does Venus lose heat, and when and why did the runaway greenhouse effect begin at the planet?
