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Courtesy NASA
This Hubble Space Telescope image of Venus was taken on Jan. 24 1995, when Venus was at a distance of 70.6 million miles from Earth. In the insight photo, Maat Mons is displayed in this computer-generated, three-dimensional perspective of the surface of Venus.
The Seismic and Atmospheric Exploration of Venus (SAEVe) is a mission to deliver two landers to the surface of the planet and have the landers return information and data for 120 days. Each lander weighs 55 pounds and carries an array of scientific equipment, from wind and temperature sensors, to communications and camera equipment, to seismology instruments.
Courtesy NASA
Maat Mons is displayed in this computer-generated, three-dimensional perspective of the surface of Venus.
Courtesy NASA
This Hubble Space Telescope image of Venus was taken on Jan. 24 1995, when Venus was at a distance of 70.6 million miles from Earth. In the insight photo, Maat Mons is displayed in this computer-generated, three-dimensional perspective of the surface of Venus.
Three impact craters are displayed in this three-dimensional perspective view of the surface of Venus.
The Seismic and Atmospheric Exploration of Venus (SAEVe) is a mission to deliver two landers to the surface of the planet and have the landers return information and data for 120 days. Each lander weighs 55 pounds and carries an array of scientific equipment, from wind and temperature sensors, to communications and camera equipment, to seismology instruments.
Interior Alaskans are no strangers to temperature extremes, but nothing compares to the average temperature of the planet Venus, which is 450 degrees Celsius, or 860 Fahrenheit. For reference, the melting point of lead is 327 degrees Celsius.
“It is hot,” said Il Sang Ahn, and associate professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Department of Civil, Environmental and Geological Engineering. “The air pressure is 90 times higher than on Earth.”
Ahn has received a $300,000 award from the National Science Foundation to fund research relating to seismic data collection on the surface of Venus.
“It’s a little bit different,” Ahn said. “I’m a civil engineer. Most of the things civil engineers are doing are on Earth.”
In the near future, NASA plans to land a probe on the surface of Venus, a feat previously only accomplished by the Soviet Union. The U.S.S.R landed several probes on Venus in the 1970s and 80s, but none of those probes were able to transmit data for more than a couple of hours.
Next summer, Ahn and two UAF graduate students will travel to NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, where they will be able to simulate the inhospitable conditions of Venus.
Ahn’s research will specifically analyze noise-canceling techniques for the seismometer connected to NASA’s future Venus lander.
Conditions on the surface of Venus are windy, so it can be difficult for an instrument to differentiate between wind and actual seismic activity, Ahn said. The key is to have a seismometer that is not completely attached to the whole lander. If the wind blows causing the lander to shake, a seismometer can confuse it for seismic activity.
With the Russian landers, they were only able to transmit data for a small amount of time due to the extreme heat and because the Venusian atmosphere blocks sunlight, forcing a lander to rely on limited battery power.
With modern battery technology, a NASA lander could last much longer, Ahn said. A new lander could last longer if it only sends seismic data 50 times in a 120-day period. This is why it is important to only detect true seismic activity.
“If we know its seismic activity, we can turn on all the systems and start to send a signal,” he said. “This is very valuable.”
Landing a probe on Venus is the natural next step for NASA, Ahn said. The U.S. has already successfully sent landers to the moon, Mars, an asteroid and even a comet.
Understanding seismic activity on Venus could expand human knowledge of our own planet’s earthquakes and volcanoes.
While Earth will not reach the incredible temperatures felt on Venus, understanding the surface conditions of the planet can give humans insight into the far future of Earth.
“That information will help us to understand what is going to happen, not in a thousand years, but millions of years later,” Ahn said. “Do we need to know that? I believe so. Humans want to know about the future.”
Contact Carter DeJong at 907-459-7545 or cdejong@newsminer.com and on twitter @dejong_carter