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EnVision: ESA Venus mission study
by
Blackstar
on 12 Mar, 2019 21:52
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#1
by
vjkane
on 12 Mar, 2019 22:52
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The EnVision team presented at the last VEXAG meeting. The mission concept then was overweight and over budget. As one solution to the latter, NASA agreed to study supplying the radar unit. Proposers of Venus mapping missions to NASA did not react well as I recall.
If the mission launches, it would be in the early 2030s.
I've followed EnVision for several years and it could have some nice capabilities like higher resolution imaging and a more capable spectrometer than I've seen proposed to NASA.
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#2
by
redliox
on 12 Mar, 2019 23:21
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Hope it can happen. Venus needs love. All though an orbiter is sensible for now I wonder when we could see something like a balloon if not a lander taking a closer look?
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#3
by
vjkane
on 12 Mar, 2019 23:24
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Another thing about the EnVision mission is that they plan to map, although at higher resolution than the proposals to NASA that would have mapped the entire plan, on a portion of the planet covering high importance targets. A tradeoff on depth vs breadth. And a lot of Venus are pretty similar plains.
I don't know if a NASA-supplied radar would allow the higher resolution mapping.
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#4
by
Blackstar
on 13 Mar, 2019 01:22
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#5
by
Blackstar
on 13 Mar, 2019 01:24
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#6
by
Blackstar
on 13 Mar, 2019 01:25
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#7
by
Star One
on 13 Mar, 2019 06:57
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Disappointing in some ways to see yet another orbiter proposed. We see articles every now and again saying that the technology to develop a more long lasting and capable lander are in development, but this never seems to be reflected in mission proposals for the planet. Even some kind of device into the atmosphere or flying through like NG’s VAMP proposal would be a step up.
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#8
by
theinternetftw
on 13 Mar, 2019 07:02
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Disappointing in some ways to see yet another orbiter proposed. We see articles every now and again saying that the technology to develop a more long lasting and capable lander are in development, but this never seems to be reflected in mission proposals for the planet. Even some kind of device into the atmosphere or flying through like NG’s VAMP proposal would be a step up.
Not just another orbiter, another orbiter that, if there are no slips along the way, will start science operations in 2035.
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#9
by
woods170
on 13 Mar, 2019 07:04
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Throwing cold water over this: historically only 1 out of every 20 mission proposals, presented to ESA, result in actual missions.
It will be some time untill it is clear whether this proposal has any chance of actually getting beyond the Powerpoint phase.
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#10
by
theinternetftw
on 13 Mar, 2019 07:09
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Throwing cold water over this: historically over 95% of mission studies done by ESA do NOT result in actual missions.
It will be some time untill it is clear whether this proposal has any chance of actually getting beyond the Powerpoint phase.
Well, it was one of the three down-selected proposals for
M5. So it has that going for it, which is nice.
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#11
by
Star One
on 13 Mar, 2019 10:52
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Disappointing in some ways to see yet another orbiter proposed. We see articles every now and again saying that the technology to develop a more long lasting and capable lander are in development, but this never seems to be reflected in mission proposals for the planet. Even some kind of device into the atmosphere or flying through like NG’s VAMP proposal would be a step up.
Not just another orbiter, another orbiter that, if there are no slips along the way, will start science operations in 2035.
Its date of operation doesn’t stop it being another orbiter.
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#12
by
as58
on 13 Mar, 2019 15:46
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Its date of operation doesn’t stop it being another orbiter.
There are limits to what you can do with ESA medium class mission budget.
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#13
by
Star One
on 14 Mar, 2019 15:44
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Its date of operation doesn’t stop it being another orbiter.
There are limits to what you can do with ESA medium class mission budget.
Is a dedicated lander that much more expensive?
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#14
by
vjkane
on 15 Mar, 2019 00:21
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Its date of operation doesn’t stop it being another orbiter.
There are limits to what you can do with ESA medium class mission budget.
Is a dedicated lander that much more expensive?
Depends on the orbiter and the lander. If your only goal is to get a cubesat equivalent payload into orbit or on the surface to survive a few minutes, you probably can do so for <$200M. The orbiter will be cheaper -- proven technology and all that. The lander needs at least a pressure shell or exotic high temp electronics.
You can grow costs on both arbitrarily from there.
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#15
by
vjkane
on 27 Mar, 2019 12:25
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#16
by
john smith 19
on 13 Apr, 2019 16:57
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This slide on the current status of EnVision was presented as part of the VEXAG update at the recently completed LPSC conference.
Full presentations at
https://www.lpi.usra.edu/vexag/meetings/Town-Hall-LPSC-2019/VEXAG_Town_Hall_032019.pdf
That sounds like this is starting to move toward an actual launch.
People make a big fuss about Mars but Venus is much more dynamic in terms of atmosphere and geology. Since this is an ESA mission it can teach us a lot more about the ffects and mitigation of global warming than Mars ever will.
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#17
by
vjkane
on 14 Apr, 2019 13:38
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That sounds like this is starting to move toward an actual launch.
People make a big fuss about Mars but Venus is much more dynamic in terms of atmosphere and geology. Since this is an ESA mission it can teach us a lot more about the ffects and mitigation of global warming than Mars ever will.
I listened to a presentation on the proposal from last fall's VEXAG meeting. The proposing team has to overcome significant cost (perhaps through the donation of a NASA radar instrument) and mass problems. And then it has to be selected over two other good finalists in the M5 competition. If selected, it's expected to launch in the early 2030s.
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#18
by
vjkane
on 13 May, 2019 19:12
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NASA put out this announcement in the last few days:
Update on NASA Participation on Envision Venus Mission Study
As has been announced previously (most recently at the LPSC Venus Townhall in March), NASA has been invited by ESA to participate in the EnVision mission study, part of the M5 competition. The EnVision mission concept would conduct high resolution radar mapping and atmospheric studies, with a launch readiness date of 2032. NASA has responded to ESA's invitation by providing two US Venus scientists to the EnVision Science Study Team and a systems engineer to the System Engineering Working Group. This partnership has been quite successful.
In March 2019, as part of the mission study process, NASA invited responses of interest and technical capabilities related to a potential instrument and other flight subsystem contributions from three organizations: GSFC, JPL and APL. In late April, NASA received the responses from these institutions and is in the process of assessing them for technical and cost feasibility. The assessment process will take about two months, after which time NASA will determine how to proceed. As presented at the LPSC Venus Town Hall, should ESA choose EnVision as the M5 mission, the science team for any potential contributed facility instrument will be openly competed.
At this time, NASA has not committed to providing a contribution to the mission. For questions or comments, please contact Dr. Adriana Ocampo at
[email protected]
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#19
by
baldusi
on 21 May, 2019 12:16
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Why S-band radar? With all the X-Band and L-Band experience in European SAR missions, I would have assumed you could have gotten a lot of “legacy” designs. I’m pretty sure it had to do with the science requirements and S-band radar characteristics. But I am intrigued.