{"682416":{"#nid":"682416","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Preparing to Study Venus\u2019 Clouds ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAs Rocket Lab prepares to launch a mission to Venus next year, a multidisciplinary research team led by Georgia Tech braved an erupting volcano recently to test an instrument custom-built to explore Venus\u2019 clouds and look for signs of organic chemistry. If successful, the 2026 launch will mark the first private spacecraft to reach Venus, and the first U.S. mission to study its sulfuric acid-filled clouds in nearly 40 years.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe instrument, the autofluorescence nephelometer (AFN) built by Droplet Measurement Technologies, will fire a laser beam out a window and use light scattering from individual particles to measure the size and composition of the planet\u2019s aerosols, the tiny particles that make up the clouds. The AFN will only have about five minutes to collect data as the small probe falls through the clouds, and another 15 minutes to send data back to Earth before things get too extreme. The probe is not expected to reach the surface, where it is hot enough to melt lead, and the pressure is 90 times that of Earth\u2019s surface.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech oversees all of the instrument\u2019s field tests and modeling. The project, called VENUSIAN, is led by Christopher E. Carr, assistant professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ae.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EDaniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E, with funding from NASA\u2019s PSTAR program. Carr holds a joint appointment in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/eas.gatech.edu\/\u0022 id=\u0022menur53u\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 title=\u0022https:\/\/eas.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESchool of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E.\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENASA also built a \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/image-article\/nasa-installs-heat-shield-on-first-private-spacecraft-bound-for-venus\/\u0022\u003Eheat shield\u003C\/a\u003E for Rocket Lab\u2019s spacecraft and will provide navigation and communications support through the Deep Space Network.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIs there life in the clouds of Venus? I don\u2019t think so, but if it\u2019s there, I want to find it,\u201d says Carr, who admits that the more he studies Venus, the more interesting it becomes.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECollecting Volcanic Molecules\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn March, his team tested the AFN in the field, flying it on a drone through Hawaii\u2019s volcanic fog, a haze that forms because of volcanic emissions. The droplets are rich with sulfuric acid, similar to Venus\u2019 atmosphere.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe got some valuable data,\u201d says Carr. \u201cThis was the first time for our whole team from different institutions to be together in one place.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECollaborators from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the University of Colorado-Boulder, which managed and flew the drones, and Droplet Measurement Technologies joined the Georgia Tech contingent in Hawaii.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESara Seager, professor of physics, professor of aeronautics and astronautics, and Class of 1941 Professor of Planetary Science at MIT, who serves as the science principal investigator for the Rocket Lab mission, emphasized the critical testing role Georgia Tech is playing ahead of the mission to Venus.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBuilding the instrument is important, but what is also important is knowing how you\u2019re going to interpret data when you get back. To understand that you need to use the instrument over and over again here on Earth. Professor Carr taking a lead on that from a science perspective is important,\u201d says Seager, who will oversee two subsequent \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.morningstarmissions.space\/\u0022\u003EMorning Star Missions to Venus\u003C\/a\u003E that the team envisions will culminate in an atmosphere sample return.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Kilauea volcano, located in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island, began erupting as soon as the team started their first drone flight. The eruption grew more intense on the second day, giving the researchers a chance to run the AFN through its paces. While the flight test results are still preliminary, the team indicated that the instrument did detect volcanic ash and volcanic smog, which bodes well for the Venus mission.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt was cool to see our instrument in action,\u201d says Snigdha Nellutla, a research engineer and data modeler, who recently finished her master\u2019s in aerospace engineering. She simulates the AFN\u2019s output in different environmental conditions, both during the Hawaii field tests and on the actual mission to Venus.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EIn Search of a Carbon Cycle\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe\u2019re seeking evidence of a carbon cycle in the Venus atmosphere,\u201d she said. \u201cLife as we know it on Earth is carbon-based. Carbon compounds are delivered to Venus from meteorites. Are they rapidly degraded or do they persist in some form?\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBillions of years ago, Venus may have had as much water as Earth \u2014 but at some point in its evolution, carbon dioxide in the planet\u0027s atmosphere triggered an intense runaway greenhouse effect. This sent temperatures soaring, causing the planet\u0027s water to evaporate, and the hydrogen part of the water (H2O) was lost to space.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn 2020, astronomers detected phosphine in Venus\u2019 atmosphere. This gas, often associated with biological activity on Earth, could signal signs of life. While the presence of phosphine is now debated, a rash of recent discoveries suggests that organic chemistry in the clouds could be much more complex than previously considered.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhile Venus\u2019 extreme surface temperatures are well documented, the one exception is found in the middle cloud layers, which have habitable temperatures. By looking at individual particles within the Venus atmosphere, researchers hope to learn about other compounds that could exist, including organic molecules that could influence a carbon cycle. The Hawaii measurements will serve as an important baseline to compare against what will be gathered on Venus.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe Smoking Gun of Organics\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe mission to Venus will also measure fluorescence, considered \u201ca smoking gun\u201d for possible organic materials, says Carr.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOn Venus\u2019 super-rotating atmosphere, clouds take four Earth days to travel around the planet, while the planet spins in the same direction approximately 50 times slower.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe differences with Venus\u2019s atmosphere compared with Earth have forced our whole team to look at how we approach astrobiology completely differently,\u201d he explains. \u201cWhen we think of finding signs of life, we follow the water, but Venus has no water; it\u2019s sulfuric acid.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo Carr, the importance of the mission is to better understand Venus\u2019 chemistry, given that sulfuric acid and water have different properties, which can contribute to or limit the kind of chemistry that can occur.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBy understanding what might be possible, we can learn if different types of life might be possible. It also helps us know what to look for when we look for life,\u201d he says. Even if there is no life in the clouds of Venus, there is likely to be interesting chemistry, based on extensive testing by members of the science team. This chemistry could be detected by the AFN as fluorescent aerosol particles.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EVENUSIAN has enabled Georgia Tech aerospace engineering students to get a rare opportunity to test and model hardware that will fly in space.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EStudents Celebrate Teamwork, Space Aspirations \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAs a first-year, I\u2019ve had a variety of tasks, and that\u2019s been fun for me as someone who is just starting to explore my career possibilities,\u201d says Violet Oliver, who oversees the ground sampling tests. \u201cThis has been a really good introduction \u2014 getting my feet wet in what future space missions might look like and, more broadly, what the engineering test cycle looks like.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe biggest thing we learned was how to work together as a team,\u201d adds Cassius Tunis, a senior in aerospace engineering. He managed the logistics, designed hardware to integrate the AFN and the drone, and served as the field study\u2019s test engineer during the flights, where he communicated with the pilots and tracked their flight pattern.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt\u2019s been a goal of mine to work in the space industry since high school,\u201d he said, crediting VENUSIAN with helping him pinpoint his career direction. \u201cI see myself as the resident test engineer. Test engineering is a very operational, multidisciplinary field within aerospace. You get to wear a lot of different hats and interact with people of all different backgrounds.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECarr indicated that the team will return to Hawaii later this year for final AFN field testing before the Venus mission.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELooking to the 2026 launch, Seager says, \u201cI\u2019m looking forward to a safe launch and getting exciting data back. It\u2019s Venus\u2019 moment to shine,\u201d she added, calling Venus the \u201cquiet, overlooked gem\u201d to Mars and Earth.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECarr expressed admiration for Rocket Lab\u2019s founder and CEO, Peter Beck, whose passion for the Venus mission is well documented.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cHe exudes the true curiosity of a scientist and explorer. In Rocket Lab, we have a partner that is excited by discovery.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech braves an active volcano to field test an instrument for a private space mission to Venus.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech braves an active volcano to field test an instrument for a private space mission to Venus. "}],"uid":"34760","created_gmt":"2025-05-16 11:05:25","changed_gmt":"2025-06-06 13:57:39","author":"Laurie Haigh","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2025-05-16T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2025-05-16T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"677081":{"id":"677081","type":"image","title":"VENUSIAN","body":null,"created":"1747339776","gmt_created":"2025-05-15 20:09:36","changed":"1747342260","gmt_changed":"2025-05-15 20:51:00","alt":"VENUSIAN team travels to Hawaii to field test autofluorescence nephelometer ","file":{"fid":"260946","name":"Venusian.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/05\/15\/Venusian.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/05\/15\/Venusian.png","mime":"image\/png","size":4081561,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2025\/05\/15\/Venusian.png?itok=buXMbI8B"}}},"media_ids":["677081"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"364801","name":"School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences (EAS)"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"}],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"193657","name":"Space Research Initiative"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ENews Contact: \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto: laurie.haigh@research.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ELaurie Haigh\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter: \u003C\/strong\u003EAnne Wainscott-Sargent\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}