Beauchamp Patricia, Gilmore Martha S, Lynch Richard J, Sarli Bruno V, Nicoletti Anthony, Jones Andrew, Ginyard Amani, Segura Marcia E
Engineering and Science Directorate, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Dr. Pasadena, CA 91109, USA.
Earth and Environmental Sciences, Wesleyan University, 265 Church St., Middletown, CT 06459, USA.
IEEE Aerosp Conf. 2021 Jun;50100:1-18. doi: 10.1109/aero50100.2021.9438335. Epub 2021 Jun 7.
More than any other known planet, Venus is essential to our understanding of the evolution and habitability of Earth-size planets throughout the galaxy. We address two critical questions for planetary science: 1) How, if at all, did Venus evolve through a habitable phase? 2) What circumstances affect how volatiles shape habitable worlds? Volatile elements have a strong influence on the evolutionary paths of rocky bodies and are critical to understanding solar system evolution. It is clear that Venus experienced a different volatile element history from the Earth and provides the only accessible example of one end-state of habitable Earth-size planets. Venus will allow us to identify the mechanisms that operate together to produce and maintain habitable worlds like our own. The (VFM) concept architecture relies on five collaborative platforms: an Orbiter, Lander, variable-altitude Aerobot and two Small Satellites (SmallSats) delivered via a single launch on a Falcon 9 heavy expendable. The platforms would use multiple instruments to measure the exosphere, atmosphere and surface at multiple scales with high precision and over time. VFM would provide the first measurements of mineralogy and geochemistry of tessera terrain to examine rocks considered to be among the most likely to have formed in a habitable climate regime. Landed, descent, aerial and orbital platforms would work synergistically to measure the chemical composition of the atmosphere including the Aerobot operating for 60 days in the Venus clouds. Loss mechanisms would be constrained by the SmallSats in two key orbits. The baseline payload for VFM includes instruments to make the first measurements of seismicity and remanent magnetism, the first long-lived (60 day) surface platform and the first life detection instrument at Venus to interrogate what could be an inhabited world. The VFM concept directly addresses each of the three Venus Exploration Analysis Group (VEXAG) goals as well as several of the strategic objectives of the 2020 NASA Science Plan, Planetary Science Division, Heliophysics and Astrophysics. The simultaneous, synergistic measurements of the solid body, surface, atmosphere and space environment provided by the VFM would allow us to target the most accessible Earth-size planet in our galaxy, and gain a profound new understanding of the evolution of our solar system and habitable worlds.
与其他已知行星相比，金星对于我们理解银河系中类地行星的演化和宜居性至关重要。我们探讨了行星科学的两个关键问题：1）金星是否经历过宜居阶段？如果经历过，是如何演化的？2）哪些情况会影响挥发性元素塑造宜居世界的方式？挥发性元素对岩石天体的演化路径有很大影响，对于理解太阳系演化至关重要。很明显，金星经历了与地球不同的挥发性元素历史，并且提供了类地宜居行星一种终态的唯一可研究实例。金星将使我们能够识别共同作用以产生和维持像我们地球这样的宜居世界的机制。（VFM）概念架构依赖于五个协作平台：一个轨道器、一个着陆器、一个可变高度的航空机器人和两颗通过猎鹰9号重型一次性运载火箭单次发射送入太空的小卫星。这些平台将使用多种仪器，在多个尺度上高精度地长期测量金星的外层大气、大气层和表面。VFM将首次对镶嵌地块的矿物学和地球化学进行测量，以研究那些被认为最有可能在宜居气候条件下形成的岩石。着陆平台、下降平台、空中平台和轨道平台将协同工作，测量大气的化学成分，包括在金星云层中运行60天的航空机器人。两颗小卫星将在两个关键轨道上对物质损失机制进行监测。VFM的基线载荷包括用于首次测量地震活动和剩余磁性的仪器、首个长期（60天）表面平台以及首个用于探测金星上可能存在生命的世界的生命探测仪器。VFM概念直接针对金星探索分析小组（VEXAG）的三个目标以及美国国家航空航天局2020年科学计划、行星科学部、日地物理学和天体物理学的若干战略目标。VFM提供的对固体、表面、大气和空间环境的同步、协同测量，将使我们能够研究银河系中最容易到达的类地行星，并对太阳系和宜居世界的演化有全新的深刻认识。
