Would the clouds of Venus still contain life? This is the question Peter Beck, the founder and CEO of Rocket Lab, a Californian company specializing in the launch of minisatellites, wants to answer. To do this, the company intends to send, in 2023, a probe that will take a closer look at the clouds of Venus.
The planet Venus, described as “the Earth following a climatic catastrophe” by Beck has, according to the latter, an astrobiological potential and “whatever the scientific return of this mission, it could be a game-changer in terms of exploration”.
Credits Pixabay – cropped image
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For information, Rocket Lab already offers satellite launches in low and medium earth orbit. With this astrobiological mission in mind, its founder therefore plans to launch one or more probes in orbit around Venus to look for signs of the signs of life. And this, on a purely private basis.
What if life had survived in habitable pockets of Venus’ atmosphere?
A few million years ago, Venus was a temperate world, with rivers, lakes and oceans that endured for a while. But apparently, an out of control greenhouse effect eventually turned Venus into a parched planet with very high temperatures and overwhelming atmospheric pressure.
Scientists believe that if life once existed on this planet, it may have found refuge in the atmosphere of Venus, where it could persist, why not until today, in habitable pockets.
Indeed, about 50 km from the Venusian surface, that is to say in the atmosphere, the temperature and the pressure are similar to those which one has on the surface of the Earth.
Read also : There is something strange hidden in the clouds of Venus
A private mission to seek life in the atmosphere of Venus
Beck and his team will therefore try to find signs of life in the atmosphere of Venus, although there is no guarantee that such things exist. And even if life would still exist there, nothing guarantees that we will be able to discover it.
But this will be without counting the goodwill of Beck and his company which, thanks to recent advances in technology relating to the batteries powering the engines of its devices, intend to complete this project.
To do this, the company will use its two devices, namely the Electron rocket as a launcher, and the Photon satellite platform for the transport of payloads dedicated to the observation of the clouds of Venus. Photon will then have the mission of deploying one or more small probes in the atmosphere of Venus. And all this, as part of a private mission scheduled for 2023.
Read also : Active volcanoes on Venus?
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