Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Venus cloud encounter – a private sector investigation.
Credit: Rocket Lab

Yes, Venus is hot.

But the controversial detection a few years ago of phosphine (PH3) in the Venusian atmospheric continues to be an astrobiological hot topic.

The source of (PH3) detection on Venus is unknown.

“There could be an as yet unknown geochemical or photochemical process. Or, there could possibly be life in the Venus cloud layers producing PH3,” report MIT’s Janusz Petkowski and Sara Seager.

Image credit: Sara Seager, Janusz Petkowski, William Bains

Recalibrate thinking?

It turns out that “mornings” in Venus’ atmosphere and “evenings” makes for an interesting contrast. On Venus, there is an expected and suspected lower abundance of PH3 when the part of the atmosphere observed has passed through sunlight.

So perhaps it’s time to recalibrate the on-going heated discussion and triple-check research findings?

The debate regarding phosphine in Venus’ atmosphere is surely going to continue.

Venus Life Finder Mission report.
Credit: MIT/Breakthrough Initiatives

Astrobiology-focused missions

Enter the “Morning Star Missions.”

The project entails a series of astrobiology-focused missions to Venus, the morning star planet, with the goal to study the clouds of Venus in order to determine their ability to support microbial life forms and to search for signs of life or life itself.

The mission concepts have been sparked by and evolved from the Venus Life Finder Mission Concept study led by MIT’s Sara Seager.

Kicking off the Morning Star Missions is the first-ever private interplanetary mission to Venus to search for signs of life in the clouds by detecting organic chemistry. The mission is planned for launch in January 2025 aboard Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket.

Morning Star Venus probe will carry an Autofluorescence Nephelometer to search for organic material in the clouds and characterize the cloud particles.
Image credit: Christophe Mandy

Cloud probe

Rocket Lab’s Photon spacecraft will carry a small atmospheric probe weighing about 45 pounds (20 kilograms). It will be dropped near Venus right before spacecraft entry into the atmosphere.

The probe will carry an Autofluorescence Nephelometer to search for organic material in the clouds and characterize the cloud particles.

Each subsequent Morning Star mission will increase in complexity and leverage the technologies and scientific discoveries of the previous missions to enhance knowledge of the Venusian clouds, and the prospect of detecting life high above the planet’s hellish landscape.

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