VERVE Mission to Explore Venus for Traces of Life

Quick Summary

• Venus shows extreme surface conditions but has a more Earth-like environment in its clouds.
• Detection of phosphine and ammonia in Venus’s atmosphere over teh past five years hinted at possible microbial life.
• Phosphine discovery in 2020 sparked debate; follow-up studies revealed the gas varied with Venus’s day-night cycle.
• Ammonia was tentatively detected; both gases lack non-biological explanations on Venus, raising astrobiological questions.
• The VERVE (Venus Explorer for Reduced Vapours in the Environment) mission spearheaded by Jane Greaves will investigate these gases further by joining ESA’s EnVision mission scheduled for 2031.
• VERVE woudl operate independently as a low-cost (£43 million) probe to study habitable zones ~50 kilometers above Venus’s surface where extremophile microbes might survive.

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Indian Opinion Analysis

The proposed VERVE mission exemplifies growing international collaboration and innovation in astrobiology, an area that has implications for India’s space exploration ambitions. With India already achieving milestones like Chandrayaan and Mangalyaan, missions such as this coudl inspire ISRO to explore planetary atmospheres for signs of life-perhaps targeting less-studied regions like Uranus or Neptune. If extraterrestrial life is confirmed on Venus,there would be profound scientific and philosophical implications worldwide including India. It serves as a reminder of the interconnectedness of human curiosity transcending geographical boundaries.india may also benefit from contributing its expertise toward affordable payload designs, given VERVE’s relatively low cost per space norms (£43M). Such advancements resonate well with india’s emphasis on cost-effective solutions to tackle frontier science challenges.