Shukrayaan 1 Mission – ISRO Mission for Venus

After Chandrayaan and Mangalyaan, ISRO plans to launch Shukrayaan 1, the country’s first orbiter mission to Venus. This article will go over the Shukrayaan 1 ISRO Mission towards Venus in detail. This topic is important for your UPSC preparation. So don’t forget about that. Read it & write down the key points for your revision. Let us now begin.

What is Venus Planet?

• Venus is the 2nd planet from the Sun, & as the brightest natural object in Earth’s night sky after the Moon, it can throw shadows and, on rare occasions, be seen with the naked eye in broad daylight.
• Because Venus rotates in the opposite direction (East to West/Clockwise) as all other planets except Uranus, the Sun rises in the west and sets in the east.
• It’s one of the 4 main terrestrial (or rocky) planets, and because of its size and density, it’s sometimes referred to as Earth’s twin.
• Venus has a heavy, poisonous atmosphere loaded with carbon dioxide, as well as a thick, yellowish cloud cover of sulphuric acid that trap heat and cause a greenhouse effect.
• Despite its proximity to the Sun, Mercury is the hottest planet in our solar system.
• On Venus, the surface temperature is around 900 degrees Fahrenheit (475 degrees Celsius), which is hot enough to melt lead.
• A day is longer than a year on Venus. Venus takes longer to revolve on its axis than it does to complete one orbit around the Sun.

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What is Shukrayaan 1 Mission?

1. After launching similar missions to the Moon and Mars, Shukrayaan 1 will be India’s first orbiter mission to Venus.
2. The shukrayaan 1 mission goal is to investigate the surface of our solar system’s hottest planet and decipher the secrets hidden under the Sulphuric Acid clouds that surround it.
3. The orbiter is the third mission to Venus, following the announcements of two probes by NASA and a spacecraft by the European Space Agency.
4. The probes will tour the world in quest of clues to Earth’s weird twin’s catastrophic history, which experts think once possessed large water reserves similar to our own.
5. The Shukrayaan 1, an orbiter destined for the planet Venus, might launch in December 2024.
6. This will be the Indian space agency’s first voyage to Venus, with a four-year mission life predicted.
7. Several devices will be studying the globe during this time.
8. If it fails to meet the 2024 deadline, the next launch window will be in mid-2026, when Venus and Earth realign. When visiting other planets, this is critical for spaceship fuel economy.

Why in the news

The new Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) recently indicated that the Venus mission Shukrayaan 1 will be launched by December 2024.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has already announced two additional robotic missions to Venus, DaVinci Plus and Veritas.

The significance of ISRO’s Shukrayaan 1 Venus Mission

• There have been no previous observations of Venus’s subsurface. As a result, the mission will be the first to fly the sub-surface radar. It will reach a depth of a few hundred meters into the surface of Venus.
• The project will also deliver infrared, ultraviolet, and submillimeter wavelength equipment to Venus to study the planet’s atmosphere.
• It will reveal information on the evolution of Earth-like planets and their atmospheres.
• ISRO’s Shukrayaan 1 venus mission will also attempt to present a futuristic image of how climate change might have an important influence on the world.

Shukrayaan 1 Venus Mission: Objectives

• Active volcanic hotspots and lava flows are investigated, as well as surface processes and shallow subsurface strata.
• Investigating the atmosphere’s structure, composition, and dynamics
• The research on the interaction of the solar wind with the Venusian ionosphere.

Shukrayaan 1 Venus Mission: Challenges

• Venus has different obstacles than Mars because of its dense atmosphere and active surface, making it a complicated planet.
• The equipment must travel deep into the atmosphere in order to gain a better understanding.
• A high-resolution Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) is one of the equipments the space agency plans to deploy on the spacecraft to analyze Venus’ surface despite the planet’s clouds, which reduce visibility.
• It’s a term for a method of creating high-resolution photographs. The radar can pierce clouds and darkness due to its accuracy, allowing it to collect data day and night in any conditions.

Previously Sent Missions to Venus

• No people have visited the planet because of its hostile climate, and the spacecraft that have been sent there have not lived for very long.
• Several nations’ spaceships have visited the planet thus far.
• When NASA’s Mariner 2 successfully sailed over and studied the cloud-covered world on Dec. 14, 1962, it became the first planet to be surveyed by a spacecraft.
• Since then, several spacecraft from the United States and other countries have studied Venus, notably NASA’s Magellan, which used radar to survey the planet’s surface.
• The Soviet spacecraft VENERA accomplished the most successful landings on the surface of Venus yet, but owing to the intense heat and crushing pressure, they didn’t last long.
• After crashing into the surface of Venus in 1978, an American probe, one of NASA’s Pioneer Venus Multiprobes, survived for roughly an hour.
• Galileo (1989), Cassini (1997), and Messenger (2001) were NASA’s other successful flyby Venus missions (2004).
• Two more recent Venus missions are the European Space Agency’s Venus Express (which surrounded from 2006 to 2016) and Japan’s Akatsuki Venus Temperature Orbiter (orbiting since 2016).
• The Parker Solar Probe of NASA has performed many flybys of Venus. NASA stated on February 9, 2022, that the spacecraft obtained the first visible-light photographs of Venus’s surface from space during its February 2021 flyby.

Future Missions to Venus

• India’s mission – in 2024, India wants to launch the Shukrayaan 1 project to Venus.
• NASA plans to launch two new robotic missions to Venus, DAVINCI + and VERITAS, at the cost of around USD 500 million each. Between 2028 and 2030, these missions will launch.
• VERITAS stands for ‘Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy,’ and it will scan the planet’s surface to figure out its geologic history and why it evolved so differently from Earth.
• DAVINCI+ stands for ‘Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble Gases, Chemistry, and Imaging’ and is the first US-led expedition to the planet’s atmosphere since 1978.
• DAVINCI + will study Venus’ composition to learn more about how the planet originated and developed.
• This mission also includes a descending sphere that will conduct observations and measurements of noble gases and other elements as it passes through the planet’s dense atmosphere.
• EnVision The European Space Agency has chosen EnVision to conduct extensive observations of Venus.
• NASA is supplying the Synthetic Aperture Radar, or VenSAR, to make high-resolution measurements of the planet’s surface characteristics as a crucial partner in the project.

Conclusion- Shukrayaan 1

We’ve discussed what Shukrayaan 1 Mission is. We’ve also included details about the ISRO’s Venus Mission Shukrayaan 1, including the mission’s goal and objectives, as well as challenges. ISRO plans to launch the Shukrayaan 1 mission in December 2024. If ISRO loses this opportunity, the next similar opportunity will not come until 2031. The primary purpose is to examine the surface of Venus, which is covered up by thick clouds that make viewing the planet difficult. This is a key topic for UPSC preparation. Therefore study it thoroughly. For the most up-to-date exam information and other notifications, go to the UPSC official website.

FAQ- Shukrayaan 1