Venus In situ Composition Investigations on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Venus In situ Composition Investigations (VICI) is a concept lander mission to
Elana Glowatz, ''IB Times''. 20 December 2017. However, on 20 December 2017, it was awarded technology development funds to prepare it for future mission competitions. The funds are meant to further develop the Venus Element and Mineralogy Camera to operate under the extreme heat and pressure on Venus. The instrument uses lasers on a lander to measure the mineralogy and elemental composition of rocks on the surface of Venus. If selected and developed at some future opportunity, the VICI mission would send two identical landers to unexplored Tesserae regions thought to be ancient exposed surfaces that had not undergone volcanic resurfacing. The two landers would measure atmospheric composition and structure during their descent at a level of detail that has not been possible on earlier missions. The landers would also analyze surface chemistry, mineralogy, and morphology at their landing site.
Goddard Venus Lander Prototype
at YouTube (42 seconds video) Missions to Venus Extraterrestrial atmosphere entry New Frontiers program proposals Proposed NASA space probes {{spacecraft-stub
Venus In situ Composition Investigations (VICI) is a concept lander mission to Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...
in order to answer long-standing questions about its origins and evolution, and provide new insights needed to understand terrestrial planet formation, evolution, and habitability
Habitability refers to the adequacy of an environment for human living. Where housing is concerned, there are generally local ordinances which define habitability. If a residence complies with those laws it is said to be habitable. In extreme e ...
.
VICI was one of 12 considerations for New Frontiers 4, but was not one of the two missions selected to be finalists in late 2017.
Overview
The mission concept was proposed in 2017 to NASA'sNew Frontiers program
The New Frontiers program is a series of space exploration missions being conducted by NASA with the purpose of furthering the understanding of the Solar System. The program selects medium-class missions which can provide high science returns.
...
to compete for funding and development,NASA's New Frontier Mission Will Search For Alien Life Or Reveal The Solar System's HistoryElana Glowatz, ''IB Times''. 20 December 2017. However, on 20 December 2017, it was awarded technology development funds to prepare it for future mission competitions. The funds are meant to further develop the Venus Element and Mineralogy Camera to operate under the extreme heat and pressure on Venus. The instrument uses lasers on a lander to measure the mineralogy and elemental composition of rocks on the surface of Venus. If selected and developed at some future opportunity, the VICI mission would send two identical landers to unexplored Tesserae regions thought to be ancient exposed surfaces that had not undergone volcanic resurfacing. The two landers would measure atmospheric composition and structure during their descent at a level of detail that has not been possible on earlier missions. The landers would also analyze surface chemistry, mineralogy, and morphology at their landing site.
Scientific payload
VICI's proposed payloads includes a copy of the neutral mass spectrometer and tunable laser spectrometer currently used by the ''Curiosity'' rover to provide surface mineralogy and elemental composition. Agamma-ray spectrometer
A gamma-ray spectrometer (GRS) is an instrument for measuring the distribution (or spectrum—see figure) of the intensity of gamma radiation versus the energy of each photon.
The study and analysis of gamma-ray spectra for scientific and techni ...
would perform measurements of naturally radioactive elements to a depth of ~10 cm.
See also
* Venus In Situ Atmospheric and Geochemical Explorer (VISAGE), a competing mission concept to Venus * Venus In Situ Explorer (VISE), a concept mission to Venus * Venus Origins Explorer (VOX), a competing mission concept to VenusReferences
External links
Goddard Venus Lander Prototype
at YouTube (42 seconds video) Missions to Venus Extraterrestrial atmosphere entry New Frontiers program proposals Proposed NASA space probes {{spacecraft-stub