News Excerpts: 

Recent studies have suggested that gases are escaping from the venus which explains the possible phenomenon of how the planet lost its water.

More About The News:  

Venus, often referred to as Earth's "sister planet," or Earth's "evil twin," shares similarities in size and composition but exhibits stark differences, notably in its lack of liquid water on the surface due to its extreme temperatures and thick carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere. However, evidence suggests that Venus might have hosted liquid water in the distant past.

• BepiColombo Mission Revelations: In 2021, the BepiColombo mission made significant discoveries during its Venus fly-by. Published in Nature Astronomy, the study sheds light on atmospheric escape mechanisms and Venus's evolutionary trajectory.
• Understanding Venus's Evolution: Insights gleaned from studying atmospheric escape mechanisms are crucial for comprehending Venus's evolution and its transition to a water-deprived world. These findings offer valuable clues about the planet's climatic history and habitability potential.
• Solar Wind Interaction and Atmospheric Loss: Venus's absence of a strong magnetic field exposes its upper atmosphere to the solar wind, resulting in atmospheric escape. The interaction between charged particles emitted by the Sun and Venus's upper atmosphere leads to the gradual loss of ions, such as hydrogen and oxygen, into space, contributing to the planet's atmospheric erosion over time. 
• Insights from BepiColombo's Fly-By: During its fly-by of Venus, BepiColombo collected data over 90 minutes, providing insights into the chemical and physical processes occurring in Venus's magnetosheath. Despite Venus's lack of an intrinsic magnetic field, its induced magnetosphere shapes the magnetosheath, where interactions with the solar wind occur.
• Implications for Venus's Atmospheric Evolution: The study highlights the importance of characterizing the escape of ions from Venus for understanding the planet's atmospheric evolution, particularly regarding the loss of water from its surface. These insights offer valuable perspectives on the general climate and habitability evolution of terrestrial planets and exoplanetary systems.
• Significance of the Study: Lead author Lina Hadid notes the significance of observing positively charged carbon ions escaping from Venus's atmosphere for the first time, suggesting mechanisms such as electrostatic forces or centrifugal processes. Co-author Moa Persson emphasizes the need for further exploration to uncover the truth about Venus's atmospheric evolution.
• Future Exploration of Venus: Several upcoming spacecraft missions, including the Indian Space Research Organisation's Shukrayaan orbiter, the European Space Agency's Envision mission, and NASA’s VERITAS orbiter and DAVINCI probe, aim to investigate Venus and its environment further, promising to fill in many gaps in our understanding of this enigmatic planet.

Way Forward: 

Despite Venus's inhospitable conditions today, studying its atmosphere provides valuable insights into processes like the runaway greenhouse effect, which may have implications for our understanding of Earth's long-term climate evolution. While Venus may have once resembled Earth, it now stands as a stark contrast, offering valuable lessons about planetary evolution and the potential consequences of extreme climate change.

Additional Information

BepiColombo: 

• The BepiColombo mission, a collaborative effort between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), embarked on its journey to Mercury in October 2018. 
• Comprising two spacecraft, the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) provided by ESA and the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO) provided by JAXA, BepiColombo aims to orbit Mercury from the end of 2025 onwards, providing unprecedented insights into the innermost planet of our Solar System. 
• This ambitious endeavor is recognized as one of the most challenging planetary projects due to Mercury's proximity to the Sun, presenting formidable obstacles for spacecraft navigation and survival. The primary goal of the BepiColombo mission is to deepen our understanding of Mercury's composition, geophysics, atmosphere, magnetosphere, and history.

Scientific Objectives:

• Investigating the origin and evolution of a planet situated close to its parent star.
• Studying Mercury's physical characteristics, including its form, interior structure, geology, composition, and craters.
• Examining Mercury's vestigial atmosphere (exosphere) to understand its composition and dynamics.
• Probing Mercury's magnetized envelope (magnetosphere) to unravel its structure and dynamics.
• Determining the origin of Mercury's magnetic field.
• Investigating polar deposits to ascertain their composition and origin.
• Conducting a test of Einstein's theory of general relativity.

Challenges of Exploring Mercury:

• Mercury's small size, high density, and elliptical orbit between 0.3 and 0.47 AU from the Sun present unique challenges for exploration. 
• Its proximity to the Sun makes observation from Earth difficult, necessitating a spacecraft equipped with scientific instrumentation to conduct in-depth studies. 
• However, reaching Mercury requires significant energy due to its gravitational pull, surpassing even missions to Pluto. 
• Moreover, the harsh thermal environment near the Sun poses additional challenges, with direct solar radiation ten times higher than at Earth's distance.

Historical Exploration Efforts: 

• Despite advances in spaceflight and planetary research, Mercury has remained relatively unexplored. 
• NASA's Mariner 10 mission in 1974-1975 provided valuable data, imaging approximately 45% of Mercury's surface and discovering its unexpected magnetic field, exosphere, and unique magnetosphere. 
• Subsequently, NASA's MESSENGER mission, launched in 2004, orbited Mercury from 2011 to 2015, collecting extensive data on its environment and surface.
• Sputnik 7: The Soviet Union's Sputnik 7 was the world's first Venus mission.
• Mariner: The first spacecraft to visit Mercury was NASA's Mariner 10, which imaged about 45% of the surface.

The Legacy of MESSENGER: 

• MESSENGER's data, obtained from flybys of Venus and Mercury, and its subsequent orbital phase, have contributed significantly to our understanding of Mercury. Despite its planned end in 2015, MESSENGER exceeded expectations, providing valuable insights into Mercury's composition and environment. Its controlled impact on Mercury's surface marked the conclusion of a successful mission, paving the way for future exploration efforts like BepiColombo.

Why the name BepiColombo: 

• The BepiColombo mission honors the legacy of Professor Giuseppe Colombo, a visionary mathematician and engineer whose groundbreaking insights into Mercury's rotation and orbital dynamics laid the foundation for our understanding of the planet's complexities.