JAKARTA – Rocket Lab, an aerospace manufacturer from the United States, plans to look for signs of life outside Earth. This prospect they will exploit through a private mission to Venus.
Even though Venus is known as the hottest planet in the Solar System, a number of studies show that this planet is suitable for habitation. One of the studies that Rocket Lab references is a study from Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in 2019.
Part of the Earth Science Division (ESD) of the United States Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) found that Venus may have had shallow oceans on its surface two to three billion years ago.
The temperature of this ocean ranges from 20 to 50 degrees Celsius. However, the planet underwent natural resurfacing around 700 million years ago, causing Venus to release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and make the planet dangerous.
Currently, the temperature of Venus’ atmosphere reaches 537 degrees Celsius with a dominance of carbon dioxide reaching 96.5 percent. As a result of the planet’s very small amount of nitrogen and gas, there is almost no oxygen on the planet.
In the initial stages of searching for signs of life, Rocket Lab will observe organic compounds in the cloud layers of Venus. The private company will send the Electron launch vehicle and Photon spacecraft to observe atmospheric conditions.
The mission will begin deployment in 2025, but Rocket Lab has not yet announced a launch date. Later, Electron and Photon will observe Venus at an altitude of 48,280 kilometers from the surface of Venus.
If this private mission to Venus is successfully launched next year, Rocket Lab will be the first private exploration agency to observe Venus for signs of life. The results of these observations will determine whether Venus was ever inhabited or not.
Tag: outer space planets of the solar system
2024-01-04 10:05:00
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