Venus sample return. A hot topic

Rodgers, David H.; Gilmore, M. S.; Sweetser, Theodore H.; Cameron, J. M.; Chen, Gun-Shing; Cutts, J.; Gershman, R.; Hall, Jeffrey L.; Kerzhanovich, V. V.; Mcronald, A. D.; Nilsen, Erik; Petrick, W.; Sauer, C. G.; Wilcox, Brian; Yavrouian, A.; Zimmerman, W.

doi:10.1109/aero.2000.879315

Cited by 2 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…We are far from being the first to suggest that sample return from Venus would be a high priority scientific objective (Rodgers et al 2000;Stevenson and Halliday 2014). In 2014, The Royal Society convened an international discussion meeting entitled Origin of the Moon.…”

Section: The Scientific Case For Sample Return From Venusmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Retrieving material from the surface of Venus and returning it to Earth is not just technically feasible, but in many cases important components for such a mission have already been tested successfully, either directly in the venusian environment, or under simulated conditions (Rodgers et al 2000;Rehnmark et al 2017;Shibata et al 2017;. We discuss here, not only the overwhelming scientific case for a sample return mission to Venus, but also outline various practical scenarios for achieving this goal on a realistic timescale and at a cost that is no greater than currently funded missions to Mars.…”

Section: The Scientific Case For Sample Return From Venusmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Launched in 2010, it initially failed to enter orbit around Venus, but was later recovered and began observations of the atmosphere in 2015 (Nakamura 2019). Rodgers et al (2000). The original spacecraft would consist of an orbiter and a lander module.…”

Section: Studying the Surface And Atmosphere Of Venus -Past Missions mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Either during the descent or ascent phases, additional atmospheric sampling was planned, involving collection of 250 ml of gas at altitudes of 15 km, 40 km and 65 km (Coradini et al 1998). A feasibility study for a "Grab and Go" style sample return mission from the surface of Venus has also been undertaken by Rodgers et al (2000) and is discussed in detail in Sect. 4.4.…”

Section: Studying the Surface And Atmosphere Of Venus -Past Missions mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1.1). In addition, many of the required technologies for sample return have already been tried and tested during past missions to Venus (Rodgers et al 2000;Dolgopolov et al 2012;Rehnmark et al 2017;Shibata et al 2017;). Here we outline two possible strategies to acquire and return surface samples from Venus.…”

Section: How Would We Do a Sample Return Mission To Venus?mentioning

confidence: 99%

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What is the Oxygen Isotope Composition of Venus? The Scientific Case for Sample Return from Earth’s “Sister” Planet

Greenwood

Anand

2020

Space Sci Rev

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Venus is Earth’s closest planetary neighbour and both bodies are of similar size and mass. As a consequence, Venus is often described as Earth’s sister planet. But the two worlds have followed very different evolutionary paths, with Earth having benign surface conditions, whereas Venus has a surface temperature of 464 °C and a surface pressure of 92 bar. These inhospitable surface conditions may partially explain why there has been such a dearth of space missions to Venus in recent years. The oxygen isotope composition of Venus is currently unknown. However, this single measurement ($\Delta ^{17}\text{O}$ Δ 17 O ) would have first order implications for our understanding of how large terrestrial planets are built. Recent isotopic studies indicate that the Solar System is bimodal in composition, divided into a carbonaceous chondrite (CC) group and a non-carbonaceous (NC) group. The CC group probably originated in the outer Solar System and the NC group in the inner Solar System. Venus comprises 41% by mass of the inner Solar System compared to 50% for Earth and only 5% for Mars. Models for building large terrestrial planets, such as Earth and Venus, would be significantly improved by a determination of the $\Delta ^{17}\text{O}$ Δ 17 O composition of a returned sample from Venus. This measurement would help constrain the extent of early inner Solar System isotopic homogenisation and help to identify whether the feeding zones of the terrestrial planets were narrow or wide. Determining the $\Delta ^{17}\text{O}$ Δ 17 O composition of Venus would also have significant implications for our understanding of how the Moon formed. Recent lunar formation models invoke a high energy impact between the proto-Earth and an inner Solar System-derived impactor body, Theia. The close isotopic similarity between the Earth and Moon is explained by these models as being a consequence of high-temperature, post-impact mixing. However, if Earth and Venus proved to be isotopic clones with respect to $\Delta ^{17}\text{O}$ Δ 17 O , this would favour the classic, lower energy, giant impact scenario. We review the surface geology of Venus with the aim of identifying potential terrains that could be targeted by a robotic sample return mission. While the potentially ancient tessera terrains would be of great scientific interest, the need to minimise the influence of venusian weathering favours the sampling of young basaltic plains. In terms of a nominal sample mass, 10 g would be sufficient to undertake a full range of geochemical, isotopic and dating studies. However, it is important that additional material is collected as a legacy sample. As a consequence, a returned sample mass of at least 100 g should be recovered. Two scenarios for robotic sample return missions from Venus are presented, based on previous mission proposals. The most cost effective approach involves a “Grab and Go” strategy, either using a lander and separate orbiter, or possibly just a stand-alone lander. Sample return could also be achieved as part of a more ambitious, extended mission to study the venusian atmosphere. In both scenarios it is critical to obtain a surface atmospheric sample to define the extent of atmosphere-lithosphere oxygen isotopic disequilibrium. Surface sampling would be carried out by multiple techniques (drill, scoop, “vacuum-cleaner” device) to ensure success. Surface operations would take no longer than one hour. Analysis of returned samples would provide a firm basis for assessing similarities and differences between the evolution of Venus, Earth, Mars and smaller bodies such as Vesta. The Solar System provides an important case study in how two almost identical bodies, Earth and Venus, could have had such a divergent evolution. Finally, Venus, with its runaway greenhouse atmosphere, may provide data relevant to the understanding of similar less extreme processes on Earth. Venus is Earth’s planetary twin and deserves to be better studied and understood. In a wider context, analysis of returned samples from Venus would provide data relevant to the study of exoplanetary systems.

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Section: The Scientific Case For Sample Return From Venusmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Scientific Case For Sample Return From Venusmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Studying the Surface And Atmosphere Of Venus -Past Missions mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Studying the Surface And Atmosphere Of Venus -Past Missions mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: How Would We Do a Sample Return Mission To Venus?mentioning

confidence: 99%

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What is the Oxygen Isotope Composition of Venus? The Scientific Case for Sample Return from Earth’s “Sister” Planet

Greenwood

Anand

2020

Space Sci Rev

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Noble Gases and Stable Isotopes Track the Origin and Early Evolution of the Venus Atmosphere

et al. 2022

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The composition the atmosphere of Venus results from the integration of many processes entering into play over the entire geological history of the planet. Determining the elemental abundances and isotopic ratios of noble gases (He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe) and stable isotopes (H, C, N, O, S) in the Venus atmosphere is a high priority scientific target since it could open a window on the origin and early evolution of the entire planet. This chapter provides an overview of the existing dataset on noble gases and stable isotopes in the Venus atmosphere. The current state of knowledge on the origin and early and long-term evolution of the Venus atmosphere deduced from this dataset is summarized. A list of persistent and new unsolved scientific questions stemming from recent studies of planetary atmospheres (Venus, Earth and Mars) are described. Important mission requirements pertaining to the measurement of volatile elements in the atmosphere of Venus as well as potential technical difficulties are outlined.

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Venus sample return. A hot topic

Cited by 2 publications

References 2 publications

What is the Oxygen Isotope Composition of Venus? The Scientific Case for Sample Return from Earth’s “Sister” Planet

What is the Oxygen Isotope Composition of Venus? The Scientific Case for Sample Return from Earth’s “Sister” Planet

Noble Gases and Stable Isotopes Track the Origin and Early Evolution of the Venus Atmosphere

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