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Magnetic field investigation of the Venus plasma environment: Expected new results from Venus Express
Barabash, S.; Russell, C. T.; Lammer, H. +24 more
The Venus Express mission is scheduled for launch in 2005. Among many other instruments, it carries a magnetometer to investigate the Venus plasma environment. Although Venus has no intrinsic magnetic moment, magnetic field measurements are essential in studying the solar wind interaction with Venus. Our current understanding of the solar wind int…
Venus Express science planning
Barabash, S.; Pätzold, M.; Zhang, T. L. +20 more
Venus Express is the first European mission to the planet Venus. Its payload consists of seven instruments and will investigate the atmosphere, the plasma environment, and the surface of Venus from orbit. Science planning is a complex process that takes into account requests from all experiments and the operational constraints. The planning of the…
Loss of hydrogen and oxygen from the upper atmosphere of Venus
Barabash, S.; Gunell, H.; Lammer, H. +9 more
Atmospheric escape from the upper atmosphere of Venus is mainly influenced by the loss of hydrogen and oxygen caused by the interaction of solar radiation and particle flux with the unprotected planetary environment. Because one main aim of the ASPERA-4 particle/plasma and VEX-MAG magnetic field experiments on board of ESA's forthcoming Venus Expr…
Radio science investigations by VeRa onboard the Venus Express spacecraft
Pätzold, M.; Bird, M. K.; Imamura, T. +10 more
The Venus Express Radio Science Experiment (VeRa) uses radio signals at wavelengths of 3.6 and 13 cm ("X"- and "S"-band, respectively) to investigate the Venus surface, neutral atmosphere, ionosphere, and gravity field, as well as the interplanetary medium. An ultrastable oscillator (USO) provides a high quality onboard reference frequency source;…
Dynamics of the Venus upper atmosphere: Outstanding problems and new constraints expected from Venus Express
Drossart, P.; Bougher, S. W.; Rafkin, S.
A consistent picture of the dynamics of the Venus upper atmosphere from ∼90 to 200 km has begun to emerge [e.g., Bougher, S.W., Alexander, M.J., Mayr, H.G., 1997. Upper Atmosphere Dynamics: Global Circulation and Gravity Waves. Venus II, CH. 2.4. University of Arizona Press, Tucson, pp. 259-292; Lellouch, E., Clancy, T., Crisp, D., Kliore, A., Tit…
Venus-solar wind interaction: Asymmetries and the escape of O+ ions
Kallio, E.; Janhunen, P.; Jarvinen, R.
We study the interaction between Venus and the solar wind using a global three-dimensional self-consistent quasi-neutral hybrid (QNH) model. The model treats ions (H+,O+) as particles and electrons as a massless charge neutralizing fluid. In the analysed Parker spiral interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) case (IMF=[8.09,5.88,0…
Venus O + pickup ions: Collected PVO results and expectations for Venus Express
Luhmann, J. G.; Russell, C. T.; Lyon, J. G. +1 more
Observations of oxygen pickup ions by the plasma analyzer on the Pioneer Venus Orbiter (PVO) Mission arguably launched broad interest in solar wind erosion of unmagnetized planet atmospheres, and its potential evolutionary effects. Oxygen pickup ions may play key roles in the removal of the oxygen excess left behind from the photodissociation of w…
Venus before Venus Express
Taylor, Fredric W.
An overview is given of current knowledge and mysteries about the planet Venus, with emphasis on those aspects that are intended to be studied with the Venus Express mission following orbit insertion at the planet in March 2006.
Lightning detection on the Venus Express mission
Russell, C. T.; Zhang, T. L.; Strangeway, R. J.
Radio waves and optical flashes consistent with the lightning generation have been reported frequently at Venus. These observations point to the presence of electrical discharges in the sulfuric acid clouds of Venus. A particularly strong whistler-mode signal has been found propagating parallel to the magnetic field in the night ionosphere near 10…
To the depths of Venus: Exploring the deep atmosphere and surface of our sister world with Venus Express
Drossart, Pierre; Baines, Kevin H.; Piccioni, Giuseppe +6 more
With its comprehensive suite of near-infrared instruments, Venus Express will perform the first detailed global exploration of the depths of the thick Venusian atmosphere. Through the near-daily acquisition of Visible and Infrared maps and spectra, three infrared-sensing instruments - the Planetary Fourier Spectrometer (PFS), the Venus Monitoring …