Desiccation Of Venus Explorer (DOVE): a NASA SIMPLEx mission concept to soar through the skies of Venus and unveil its water history
Résumé
Venus is a near-twin of Earth in size and mass, but its current atmosphere is extremely thick, hot, and dry, indicating a remarkably different evolutionary trajectory. Planned NASA and ESA missions will make measurements of Venus surface geology and bulk atmosphere isotope ratios that are critical to reconstruct the history of the planet. However, no currently selected mission will measure processes in the upper atmosphere that directly control the evolution of the planet’s volatile inventory. These processes, which transport volatiles upward and enable their escape, remain underconstrained despite the significant accomplishments of the Pioneer Venus Orbiter and Venus Express missions. Here we present a NASA SIMPLEx mission concept, Desiccation Of Venus Explorer (DOVE), which will make dedicated measurements of the Venus thermosphere-ionosphere system and atmospheric escape, to address key gaps in our current understanding. DOVE will provide critical constraints on overlooked water loss and isotope fractionation processes, amplifying the science return of planned bulk atmosphere measurements and furthering a renewed global effort to understand the history of our sister planet.