New Delhi: Between 29 and 30 October, ISRO organised a national scienve meet for the Venus Orbiter Mission at its headquarters in Bengaluru. About 150
scientists, engineers and PhD students attended the meeting, representing centres of national research as well as academic institutes. The VOM mission or Shukrayaan is the first mission by India to Venus, and is currently scheduled for launch in 2028. The mission has already been approved by the Union Cabinet last year, with a budget of Rs 1,236 crore. The meeting was organised to ensure that the investment gets maximum returns in terms of advancing the scientific understanding of Earth’s sister planet.
The meet was aimed at boosting the synergy between ISRO and the academia, towards a collaborative approach to planetary exploration. ISRO Chairman V Narayanan emphasised the need to convey the essence of science missions to the Indian citizens, inspiring them to appreciate the value of space exploration, as well as India’s ascent in the global arena when it comes to space exploration. Former ISRO Chairman AS Kiran Kumar was also present at the meet, and explained that Venus was the next logical choice after India’s successful missions to explore the Moon and Mars.
Payloads on VOM
During the science meet, there were detailed discussions on the payloads planned for VOM, and how they would help better understand the Venusian atmosphere, the clouds, aerosols, ionosphere, surface and sub-surface as well. ISRO also plans to study the impact of solar activity on the Venusian atmosphere. Venus has a hellish atmosphere because of a runaway greenhouse gas effect, and in the future, the Earth may end up in a similar state, inhospitable to life. ISRO has planned over 19 scientific payloads on the VOM, and an atmospheric probe is still on the cards. No spacecraft has survived for long on the surface in the crushing atmosphere of Venus, but a dropped probe can gather valuable information on the different layers of the complex Venusian atmosphere during its fall.
