"The Venus Explorer: Seeking Biological Indications in Acidic Clouds - A New, Agile, and Quick Mission"
With Mars taking the spotlight for years in the quest for extraterrestrial life, Venus is set to steal some limelight, drawing attention from a team of MIT researchers and their ambitious plans for a set of scrappy, privately-funded missions. The goal? To uncover clues about life within the toxic atmosphere of the second planet from the sun.
This exciting new venture kicks off with the launch of the first mission in 2023, spearheaded by Rocket Lab and their Electron rocket. The 50-pound probe, on board the Photon spacecraft, will embark on a 5-month, 38-million-mile journey to Venus, carefully skimming through the planet's dense clouds in a mere three minutes.
Armed with a specialized laser instrument, the probe will investigate signs of complex chemistry in the droplets it encounters during descent. While these droplets may appear as mere sulfuric acid, any signs of fluorescence or impurities could indicate that something more intriguing might be floating in the Venusian clouds, hinting at possible habitable environments.
Sara Seager, Class of 1941 Professor of Planetary Sciences at MIT, expresses her excitement about these Venus Life Finder Missions. Comparing them to the traditional approach, she states, "We hope this is the start of a new paradigm where you go cheaply, more often, and in a more focused way."
Inheriting the moniker of the "neglected sibling" of astrobiology, Venus has been left largely unresearched since the 80s, with the last probes to explore its atmosphere dating back to that era. While NASA and the European Space Agency have Venus missions planned for later in the decade, none of them aim to seek signs of life.
Adding to the mystery, Venus presents some unique challenges. For one, its clouds harbor temperatures suitable for life as we know it, but they're primarily composed of concentrated sulfuric acid billions of times more acidic than any Earthly habitat. The atmosphere outside the clouds is incredibly dry, fifty to hundred times drier than the Atacama Desert in Chile.
To decipher these enigmatic conditions and assess potential habitability, the report team reviewed existing literature and conducted various experiments. The international team, including researchers from Georgia Tech, Purdue University, Caltech, and the Planetary Science Institute, discovered various ways that life could potentially survive within these acidic cloud droplets.
Life might reside within vesicles of acid-resistant lipids or neutralize sulfuric acid through the production of ammonia, appearing almost friendly to acid-tolerant microbes on Earth. Alternatively, Venusian cloud life could rely on biochemistry capable of enduring sulfuric acid, paving the way for entirely new forms of life unknown on Earth.
Regarding dryness, the report suggests that while the atmosphere might be excessively arid on average, there may exist pockets of relatively high humidity with potentially habitable conditions.
Based on their research, the team picked the scientific payload for the mission, restricted to just 1 kg. Inspired by its ability to detect organic compounds efficiently and compactness, the team settled on an autofluorescing nephelometer.
Currently being built by Cloud Measurement Solutions in New Mexico and Droplet Measurement Technologies in Colorado, the instrument will shine a laser onto cloud particles within Venus' atmosphere. This interaction will cause any complex molecules within the particles to light up or fluoresce, potentially indicating the presence of organic compounds like amino acids.
If evidence of organic molecules is detected, the probe will also measure the pattern of light reflected from the droplets to determine their shape. Pure sulfuric acid droplets would be spherical. Any deviation would suggest the presence of impurities or complex molecules.
In parallel with the 2023 mission, planning for the 2026 mission is already underway. With a more substantial payload, this probe will spend more time in Venus' clouds and conduct more extensive experiments. The 2026 mission could open the door to future, more groundbreaking exploration like returning a sample of Venus' atmosphere to Earth.
Seager reflects on the disruptive nature of this mission, stating, "We think it's disruptive. And that's the MIT style. We operate right on that line between mainstream and crazy."
- The MIT researchers' ambitious plan for Venus involves a series of scrappy missions, focusing on uncovering clues about life within Venus' toxic atmosphere.
- The first mission, slated for launch in 2023, will be spearheaded by Rocket Lab and their Electron rocket, with a 50-pound probe embarking on a 5-month journey to Venus.
- Equipped with a specialized laser instrument, the probe will investigate signs of complex chemistry in the Venusian clouds to determine the presence of potential habitable environments.
- Sara Seager, a Class of 1941 Professor of Planetary Sciences at MIT, sees these missions as the start of a new paradigm in astrobiology, aiming for cheaper, more frequent, and focused exploration.
- Venus has been under-researched since the 80s, with its last probes exploring its atmosphere dating back to that era, hence earning the title of the "neglected sibling" of astrobiology.
- Despite the unique challenges posed by Venus' acidic clouds and dry atmosphere, the research team believes that life might reside within acid-resistant lipids or neutralize sulfuric acid through the production of ammonia.
- The team's research has led to the selection of an autofluorescing nephelometer as the scientific payload for the mission, capable of detecting organic compounds efficiently and compactly.
- Plans for a 2026 mission are already underway, with a more substantial payload, extended time in Venus' clouds, and the potential for groundbreaking exploration like returning a sample of Venus' atmosphere to Earth.
