NASA is cooking up a new mission called DAVINCI (Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble Gases, Chemistry, and Imaging) which will measure and analyse Venus’ atmosphere from top to bottom. The mission is planned to take off to Earth’s sister planet in 2029. Along with the spacecraft will travel a button-sized instrument that will be designed by students working under DAVINCI’s Student Collaboration Experiment. Known as VfOx (Venus Oxygen Fugacity), this small instrument will measure the Venusian oxygen’s partial pressure beneath the planet’s clouds and in the near-surface environment, as per the NASA website.
Ready to take the plunge? @NASA’s DAVINCI mission is!
Scientists recently released new details about DAVINCI, a flying analytical chemistry laboratory that will descend through the layered atmosphere of Venus. https://t.co/gHd00cvtHV pic.twitter.com/Ve11YcW1tI
— NASA Atmosphere (@NASAAtmosphere) June 3, 2022
VfOx will be attached to the Descent Sphere, a probe that will enter Venus’ atmosphere, analysing the atmospheric gases of the planet’s Alpha Regio region. The button-sized device will help the science community understand the surface minerals of the planet by comparing the oxygen in the atmosphere and the oxygen found in the rocks of Venus.
“The instrument will operate similarly to the oxygen sensor in many automobile engines, which measures the amount of oxygen in the fuel system relative to other components of the fuel,” the statement read. VfOx will be made out of ceramic which will allow it to withstand drastic temperature changes.
When our DAVINCI mission sends a probe through the skies of Venus early next decade, it will carry a number of scientific instruments—including an oxygen sensor designed, built, and operated entirely by students: https://t.co/IDo65LON3m pic.twitter.com/Qgnn0DyxX2
— NASA (@NASA) June 3, 2022
Students who will design the instrument that will be mounted on the Descent Probe will be advised and guided by the faculty at the John Hopkins University, Baltimore. “We are trying to engage and encourage the next generation of planetary scientists and engineers,” said Dr Noam Izenberg, principal research staff at the John Hopkins University. He added, “We want to attract more students from all backgrounds, including the less-advantaged and less-represented.”
Dr Izenberg said that there are multiple mentors across the board. As a result, students can not only choose mentors of their specific profession but also those who share the same ethnic backgrounds as them. Dr Izenberg claimed that the “DAVINCI team itself is fairly good in its own diversity.”
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