NASA’S new missions to Venus could ultimately reveal how Earth will end if they prove prove a scientific theory to be correct.
The theory is that Venus was once like Earth and had oceans until an event triggered a catastrophic greenhouse gas effect and it became the scorching planet we know today.
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According to Science Focus, the theory suggests “Venus might actually have been just like Earth, with oceans and plate tectonics.”
This is in-keeping with the discovery that Venus’s deuterium-hydrogen ratio is 100 times higher than it is on Earth.
One reason for this is that Venus used to have lots of water but now it’s disappeared.
Nasa aims to launch its DAVINCI+ and Veritas probes sometime between 2028 and 2030 in the hope of answering many questions about Venus.
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It’s commonly called Earth’s ‘evil twin’ because it’s similar to our rocky planet in a few ways but extremely hot and inhospitable.
The DAVINCI+ mission will feature a probe that will drop to the surface and measure the planet’s deuterium-hydrogen ratio again.
The previous measurements taken in the 70s and 80s aren’t thought to be 100% accurate.
The ratio could tell us how much water there was on Venus but not whether it was present as hot steam or large oceans.
If we find out Venus was always too hot to be like Earth then this could make looking for similar planets outside our solar System easier.
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Scientists could find a rocky planet near a star and realise it’s just as close as Venus is to the Sun so should be labelled inhospitable and move on.
However, if it turns out that Venus became inhospitable because of a climate change event then this could have implications for how we look at Earth and other exoplanets.
There’s a theory that volcanic eruptions on Venus sent too much CO2 into the atmosphere and caused a dangerous greenhouse gas effect.
Nasa’s probes will also be collecting high-resolution images and radar data so we get an idea about the surface of Venus and compare it to Earth.
Venus – what you need to know
Here’s what you need to know…
- Venus is nearly the same size as Earth with a diameter of 12,104 km compared to Earth’s 12,742 km
- Venus is so hot that the surface temperature can reach 471 °C
- It rotates in the opposition direction to most planets, potentially due to an asteroid collision
- The first man-made aircraft landed on Venus in 1996
- Venus is the hottest planet in the Solar System
- It is the second brightest object in the sky at night
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In other space news, the European Space Agency has revealed it will be sending a probe called EnVision to study the planet Venus.
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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
