Venera-D Development and Mission Updates

[Star One]

Can't find an existing thread for this mission but it appears there has now been some forward movement on this joint NASA & Roscosmos mission to Venus featuring both orbiter & lander.

U.S.-Russian talks on Venus mission resume

https://spaceflightnow.com/2015/11/12/u-s-russian-talks-on-venus-mission-resume/

One question is this marked for an Angara or Proton launch?

[GClark]

Way too early for that - this mission is probably going to go in the late '20s if it happens at all.

The most recent iteration was reportedly baselined for Soyuz.

[Star One]

Way too early for that - this mission is probably going to go in the late '20s if it happens at all.

The most recent iteration was reportedly baselined for Soyuz.

Must be pretty lightweight in interplanetary terms if launching on Soyuz. I'd thought as this is a proposed joint mission with a sharing of costs it would have a better chance of moving forward.

[zubenelgenubi]

I'm cross-posting links to two Venera-D posts from other NSF threads that I found informative.  Both refer to the preparation of a Science Definition Team last year, before the Russian annexation of Crimea.

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=27717.msg1149304#msg1149304

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=34384.msg1179616#msg1179616

[Star One]

An update of sorts.

Could Dark Streaks in Venus’ Clouds Be Microbial Life?

The question of life on Venus, of all places, is intriguing enough that a team of U.S. and Russian scientists working on a proposal for a new mission to the second planet — named Venera-D — are considering including the search for life in its mission goals.

If all goes as planned, an unmanned aerial vehicle could one day be cruising the thick, sulfuric acid clouds of Venus to help determine whether dark streaks that appear to absorb ultraviolet radiation could be evidence of microbial life.

Among several possible additions to the mission are a small sub-orbiter to study Venus’ magnetosphere, and either a balloon or an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) taking measurements of the atmosphere over a long duration.

Should the UAV be approved, its main goal would be to take meteorological measurements to determine why the atmosphere rotates so fast relative to the surface, a phenomenon known as super-rotation. This fast rotation was discovered in the 1960s by astronomers tracking the motion of the dark streaks in the atmosphere. Puzzlingly, astronomers do not know the origin and composition of these dark streaks, nor do they understand why the streaks haven’t mixed with the rest of the atmosphere and why they are absorbing ultraviolet light.

“These are questions that haven’t been fully explored yet and I’m shouting as loud as I can saying that we need to explore them,” says Sanjay Limaye, an atmospheric scientist from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and a former chair of NASA’s Venus Exploration Analysis Group (VEXAG).

According to Limaye, the nature of the UV absorber is completely unknown. It could be particulate matter mixed into the clouds, or a substance that has been dissolved by the droplets of sulfuric acid, or perhaps crystalline in nature, like ice. Iron chloride has been proposed, but there is no confirmed mechanism that could loft particles of iron chloride 50 to 60 kilometers above the surface, particularly as winds near the surface only blow weakly through the dense lower atmosphere.

http://www.astrobio.net/venus/dark-streaks-venus-clouds-microbial-life/#sthash.EnTIzuiZ.dpuf

[zubenelgenubi]

This is referring to Venera-D?:
Cross-post:

https://tass.ru/kosmos/10850401
Google translate:

MOSCOW, March 6. / TASS /.
<snip>
This was announced on Saturday to TASS by the general director of Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin.
<snip>
Scientific tasks include launching a mission to Venus in 2029, as well as launching Spectr-UV and Spectr-M.

[Alter Sachse]

http://www.russianspaceweb.com/venera-d-2021.html

"2029 November    Venera-D
   Studies of the surface, atmosphere and internal composition in coordination with US-Russian working group, JSDT."

[russianhalo117]

Roscosmos has formally suspended all western participation in the project and is the latest in response to a decree to gradually suspend all joint projects with countries whom issued sanctions against the Russia and other involved aligned countries.

https://twitter.com/roscosmos/status/1497473032813690884

[redliox]

I don't think Venera will rise again after this.

[Rondaz]

The next stage of the development of the mission to Venus is completed

05.09.2022 12:18

The next stage of the development of the space complex for the study of Venus "Venera-D" was completed - the technical proposal for the complex was approved by the Scientific and Technical Council of the Scientific and Production Association named after S.A. Lavochkin (part of the Roscosmos State Corporation), after which it was recommended to send it for further examination to the leading research organizations in the rocket and space industry.

The project was defended at a meeting attended by Alexander Shirshakov, First Deputy General Director - General Designer of NPO Lavochkina, Alexander Shirshakov, Deputy Chairman of the Space Council of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Scientific Director of the Space Research Institute, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Lev Zeleny, as well as representatives of Roscosmos, the Central Scientific -Research Institute of Mechanical Engineering, IKI RAS and other organizations.

Oleg Sedykh, head of the design complex NPO Lavochkina, chief designer of the Venera-D space complex, made a report to those present.

The Venera-D mission, which is being developed by NPO Lavochkin, involves a long-term study of Venus using a wide range of scientific equipment that will be installed on orbital, atmospheric and landing vehicles. The goal of the project is to continue at a new technical level the research carried out in the 1960s-1990s by Soviet and American space stations. Over the years, a large amount of data has been accumulated regarding the structure and composition of the atmosphere, the cloud layer, wind speeds, and soil composition on the planet's surface. However, many issues related to the dynamics of the atmosphere, the problems of superrotation, the giant greenhouse effect, the evolution of Venus, and others remained unresolved.

The research conducted by the Venera-D complex is unique and is not solved by other foreign missions announced for the next decade.

The functionality of Venera-D is aimed at solving the fundamental problems of Venus research:

an explanation of the nature of the greenhouse effect, which heated the surface to 500 degrees Celsius;

explanation of the observed features of the dynamics of the atmosphere of Venus and the nature of superrotation (the atmosphere at the upper boundary of the cloud layer rotates 60 times faster than the surface);

exploring how Venus interacts with the solar wind, why Venus's own magnetic field is missing, and whether there was one in the past;

determining whether there are active volcanoes on Venus and what the nature of volcanic activity is;

search for signs of habitability on Venus;

solution of the question, where did the water of Venus disappear, did it go into space in the process of dissipation, in the absence of the planet's magnetic field, or remained bound in rocks on the surface, was there an ocean in the first billion years of Venus's existence, and was life possible in the ocean?

Oleg Sedykh presented a presentation in which he highlighted all the important aspects of the Venera-D project. Special attention was paid to the scheme of interplanetary flight to Venus, radio communications, and possible landing sites.

https://www.roscosmos.ru/38180/

[vjkane]

05.09.2022 12:18

The next stage of the development of the space complex for the study of Venus "Venera-D" was completed - the technical proposal for the complex was approved by the Scientific and Technical Council of the Scientific and Production Association named after S.A. Lavochkin (part of the Roscosmos State Corporation), after which it was recommended to send it for further examination to the leading research organizations in the rocket and space industry.

https://www.roscosmos.ru/38180/

It would advance Venus science if they can pull this off, but for all the obvious reasons color me deeply skeptical.

[EE Scott]

05.09.2022 12:18

The next stage of the development of the space complex for the study of Venus "Venera-D" was completed - the technical proposal for the complex was approved by the Scientific and Technical Council of the Scientific and Production Association named after S.A. Lavochkin (part of the Roscosmos State Corporation), after which it was recommended to send it for further examination to the leading research organizations in the rocket and space industry.

https://www.roscosmos.ru/38180/

It would advance Venus science if they can pull this off, but for all the obvious reasons color me deeply skeptical.

I must agree - reading that article is almost painful, just because it would be so great if that mission could be realized, but with current and likely future money troubles for Russia's space program, it's so unlikely as to be almost fantasy.

[russianhalo117]

Venera-D mission approaches preliminary design

....
On May 15, 2023, NPO Lavochkin announced that based on the completed technical proposal, the company was working on the development schedule for the preliminary design of the Venera-D mission, coordinating technical assignments and contracts for sub-contractors in the project and forming Council of Chief Designers (to supervise its development). According to NPO Lavochkin, the development of the preliminary design for the Venera-D project was scheduled to start in January 2024.
.....

[Blackstar]