Shukrayaan mission

Shukrayaan mission

• Shukrayaan I, an ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) Venus mission, could be delayed until 2031. The Venus mission of ISRO was scheduled to launch in December 2024.
• Venus missions called VERITAS and EnVision, respectively, are scheduled to launch in 2031 by the U.S.
• European space agencies, while a launch by China could occur in 2026 or 2027.

Reason for the delay:

• The pandemic forced ISRO to delay the launch of Shukrayaan I from mid-2023 to December 2024.
• Delays in manufacturing and obligations to commercial launch services have also had an impact on other ISRO projects, such as Aditya L1 and Chandrayaan III.
• The best time to launch from Earth to Venus is once every 19 months or thereabouts. In case it misses the 2024 window, ISRO has "backup" launch dates in 2026 and 2028.
• But every eight years, new better windows present themselves that further cut down on the quantity of fuel needed for takeoff.
• Experts currently rate the 2031 window as being in extremely good condition.
• Prior to spacecraft assembly and testing, the project is also "waiting for formal clearance and funding."
• Depending on how it is ultimately configured, the orbiter might support a science payload of up to 100 kg and 500 W of electricity.
  

About Shukrayaan Mission:

• From an elliptical orbit, the mission will likely research Venus's geological and volcanic activities, emissions on the surface, wind speed, cloud cover, and other planetary features.
• It is anticipated that the initial elliptical orbit of Venus will measure 500 km at periapsis and 60,000 km at apoapsis.
• The GSLV Mk II rocket will be used to launch the satellite.
• Sweden is joining India's Shukrayaan Venus orbiter mission with a scientific tool to study the planet.
• Venusian Neutrals Analyzer (VNA), a satellite instrument from the Institute of Space Physics (IRF), will examine how the charged particles from the Sun interact with the planet's atmosphere and exosphere.

Shukrayaan Venus mission's importance:

• The subsurface of Venus has never been observed before. The sub-surface radar will therefore be flown for the first time during the mission. Up to a few hundred meters of Venus' subsurface will be penetrated.
• A device to study Venus' atmosphere in the infrared, ultraviolet, and submillimeter range will also be carried by the expedition.
• It will shed light on the atmospheric conditions and the evolution of Earth-like planets.
• A futuristic illustration of how climate change may significantly affect a planet will also be a goal of this project.

Mission Shukrayaan's difficulties:

• Venus's dense atmosphere and surface activity make it a challenging place to maneuver. The complexity level is far higher than on Mars.
• The instruments must travel far through the atmosphere in order to gain deeper knowledge.
• In order to see through the clouds and darkness of the Venusian atmosphere, high-resolution sensors are required.

About Planet Venus:

• The second planet from the Sun and nearest planetary neighbor to Earth is Venus.
• It is one of the four inner, rocky terrestrial planets and is frequently referred to be Earth's twin due to similarities in size and density. There are significant variances between the two planets, and they are not identical twins.
• Venus is permanently cloaked in thick, yellowish sulfuric acid clouds that trap heat and contribute to a runaway greenhouse effect. Venus also has a thick, toxic atmosphere that is packed with carbon dioxide.
• Venus has days that are longer than a year. Venus takes longer to complete one rotation on its axis than it does to complete one orbit around the Sun.
• Only 224.7 Earth days are needed to complete one orbit of the Sun, which is the shortest orbital period of any planet in the Solar System at 243 Earth days.
• After the Moon, it is the second-brightest natural object in the night sky.
• Venus and Uranus rotate on their axes in the opposite direction From east to west from the other planets in our solar system

Future missions to Venus:

Three more Venus missions were announced in June 2021. NASA and ESA each announced two new missions:

VERITAS:

• Venus will be explored by NASA's VERITAS spacecraft, which stands for Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy, for the first time since the 1990s. The launch of the spacecraft won't happen before December 2027. In its orbit around Venus, it will collect information to show how the trajectories of Venus and Earth changed and how Venus lost its ability to support life.

DAVINCI:

• The DAVINCI mission from NASA will take off in the late 2020s. DAVINCI will send a probe down to the surface of Venus after examining the top of the atmosphere.
• The probe will take thousands of measurements and close-up pictures of the surface during its hour-long fall. The probe might not survive the landing, but if it does, it might offer some more science for a while.

EnVision:

• EnVision has been chosen by ESA ( Europen Space Agency) to conduct in-depth observations of Venus. As a significant mission partner, NASA is supplying the VenSAR Synthetic Aperture Radar to collect high-resolution data on the planet's surface characteristics