Persistent Identifier
|
hdl:2014/39278 |
Publication Date
|
2005-07-01 |
Title
| In-situ exploration of Venus on a global scale : direct measurements of origins and evolution, meterology, dynamics, and chemistry by a long-duration aerial science station |
Author
| Baines, Kevin H. (Pasadena, CA : Jet Propulsion Laboratory, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 2005.)
Atreya, Sushi (Pasadena, CA : Jet Propulsion Laboratory, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 2005.)
Carlson, Robert W. (Pasadena, CA : Jet Propulsion Laboratory, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 2005.)
Chutjian, Ara (Pasadena, CA : Jet Propulsion Laboratory, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 2005.)
Crisp, David (Pasadena, CA : Jet Propulsion Laboratory, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 2005.)
Hall, Jeffrey L. (Pasadena, CA : Jet Propulsion Laboratory, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 2005.)
Jones, Dayton L. (Pasadena, CA : Jet Propulsion Laboratory, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 2005.)
Kerzhanovich, Victor V. (Pasadena, CA : Jet Propulsion Laboratory, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 2005.)
Limaye, Sanjay S. (Pasadena, CA : Jet Propulsion Laboratory, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 2005.) |
Point of Contact
|
Use email button above to contact.
Baines, Kevin H. |
Description
| Drifting in the strong winds of Venus under benign Earth-like temperature and pressure conditions, an instrumented balloon-borne science station presents a viable means to explore, in-situ, the Venusian atmosphere on a global scale. Flying over the ground at speeds exceeding 240 km/hour while floating in the Venusian skies near 55 km altitude for several weeks, such an aerostat can conduct a "world tour" of our neighboring planet, as it circumnavigates the globe multiple times during its flight from equatorial to polar latitudes. Onboard science sensors can repeatedly and directly sample gas compositions, atmospheric pressures and temperatures and cloud particle properties, giving unprecedented insight into the chemical processes occurring within the sulfuric clouds. Additionally, interferometric tracking via Earth-based radio observatories can yield positions and windspeeds to better than 10 cm/sec over one-hour periods, providing important information for understanding the planet's meridional circulation and enigmatic zonal super-rotation, as well as local dynamics associated with meteorological processes. As well, hundreds of GCMS spectra collected during the flight can provide measurements of noble gas compositions and their isotopes with unprecedented accuracy, thereby enabling fundamental new insights into Venus's origin and evolution. |
Subject
| Other |
Production Date
| 2005-07-01 |