ISRO has short-listed 20 space-based experiment proposals, including from France Sweden, and Germany, for its Venus orbiter mission ”Shukrayaan”.
By Press Trust of India | Updated: 25 November 2020 18:24 ISTHIGHLIGHTS
- Objectives of ISRO’s Venus mission are investigation of surface processes
- The proposed orbit is expected to be around 500 x 60,000 km around Venus
- This orbit is likely to be reduced gradually, over several months
Sweden is getting on board India’s Venus orbiter mission ”Shukrayaan” with a scientific instrument to explore the planet. Ambassador of Sweden to India, Klas Molin said Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF) is engaged in the venture, its second collaborative project with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
“IRF’s satellite instrument Venusian Neutrals Analyzer (VNA) will study how the charged particles from the Sun interact with the atmosphere and exosphere of the planet”, he told PTI.
“The new vesus mission means that the collaboration between IRF and isro continues”.
The VNA would be the ninth generation of IRFs series of miniatured ion and ENA (Energetic Neutral Atoms) instruments, according to Swedish officials.
The first generation was named SARA (Sub-keV Atom Reflecting Analyzer) and was launched on board the Indian spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 that explored the Moon in 2008-2009. SARA consisted of two sensors. One was a detector for energetic neutral atoms and the other was an instrument to measure the flow of ions in the solar wind.
The instrument studied how the plasma around the Moon interacts with the moon where the surface is not protected by an atmosphere or a magnetic field, they said.
“For the first time ever, SARA could investigate energetic atoms that are knocked from the lunar surface when they are hit by the solar wind”, Swedish officials said.
The SARA experiment was the first collaborative project between IRF and the ISRO.
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