GRSG 34th Conference 2023

Title: EnVision Venus Mission

Author: Philippa Mason

Abstract:

The EnVision mission aims to better understand the history, activity and climate of Venus. Using data from its payload instruments – Synthetic Aperture Radar (VenSAR), Subsurface Radar Sounder (SRS), three spectroradiometers aimed at surface and atmosphere (VenSpec-M, -H and -U), and a Radio Science experiment – EnVision will make observations of the planet’s surface and atmosphere to answer some fundamental science questions about our sister planet.

The mission’s objectives include better understanding Venus’ magmatic and tectonic history, resolving the planet’s interior structure, assessing its surface modification processes (aeolian and mass-wasting), constraining its volcanic activity in the present era, understanding the role of geological activity in its climate and assessing temporal variations the composition of its atmosphere.

The mission now approaches its last hurdle, Mission Adoption Review, before spacecraft and instruments are constructed over the coming years. There is still a long way to go before new data are collected and Venus yields a few more of its secrets, so this talk presents an overview of the mission status and its key science deliverables.