Estonia’s Tartu Observatory is building an instrument to sample Venus’ atmosphere for habitability. Part of an MIT-led initiative, it should arrive at Venus by 2031.
TOPS’ success or failure will hinge on how well it can measure these cloud layers’ pH values, in other words, the clouds’ acidity or basicity.TOPS works by capturing photos of a sensor film that changes its fluorescent properties depending on the acidity of the liquid in contact with its surface, Mihkel Pajusalu, a planetary scientist at Estonia’s Tartu Observatory, told me in his office.
But constraining the pH in the clouds will be important for more than just the acidity, Paul Rimmer, a planetary astrochemist at the University of Cambridge in the U.K., told me via email. It may indicate the presence of other chemistry involving salts or transition metals, which are important minor constituents of life as we know it, he says.
TOPS will be inside the probe that descends through the atmosphere and connected to the probe’s central computer, Pajusalu says. He expects TOPS will relay its data back to Earth using the same spacecraft that brought the descent probe to Venus.The Venusian atmosphere remains an enigma wrapped in a mystery, where in this case it is wrapped in an opaque cloud layer, says Kane.
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