Russia initiates a new expedition to Venus | Society News
In NPO them. S.A. Lavochkina weather technical proposal within the framework of the Venera-D project – based on the results of research for astronomical instruments exploration of Venus, its ready draft version. The goals have been set – Russia intends to head for a new research mission that requires a time limit (“Venus the Long-Living”). The leading researcher of the Space Research Institute (IKI RAS), candidate of technical sciences, spoke about the details of the Moskovskaya Gazeta project Nathan Eismont
“Sister Earth”
Venus has another name – “Sister of the Earth”, according to a number of indicators, among the coverage – the mass and size – of our planet are found. But there are cardinal differences – on Venus there is a frantic parenchymal effect, on the surface the temperature drops to 500 degrees, destructive clouds of sulfuric acid hang in the atmosphere. Such harsh conditions on Venus cooled the dust sensations.
And Venus is also called the “Russian Planet”, more often domestic research stations approached it. In the entire history, only Soviet spacecraft flew up to Venus, plus several US missions and single missions from Europe and Japan. First, the Soviet module Venera-1 hit this planet in 1961, then our devices from the Venera and Vega series were launched. America responded with its Mariner and Pioneer Venus projects. And yet, the USSR lost the first successful landing, it was the device “Venera-7» in 1970.
It was our devices that managed to transmit to Earth the first photographs of the surface of Venus – this was done in 1975 by Venera-9. And in 1982 – the first color photo from Venera-13. However, none of the devices could withstand more than two hours in the conditions of the planet. It is no coincidence that since the 90s, interest in space observation has intercepted Mars.
Russia flies to Venus again
Now, however, interest in Venus is resurgent. The Venera-D project is today one of our most successful space initiatives, and it is already almost 100% Russian, said Nathan Eismont.
According to the expert, the project involves the construction and installation of an apparatus on an orbital vehicle, that everything is used here – at the forefront of the latest achievements of science.
“We are planning something that no one has done before. Scientists are going to look for life in the gray clouds of Venus, this idea has already passed the stage of a preliminary design. And this is only the beginning of the development of what is still mysterious for our planet, for example, it is planned to obtain soil from the surface of Venus.
Yes, there have been landings on Venus before, but half a century has passed since then, and during this time technologies have stepped forward. The launch of the mission to this planet is scheduled for 2029. The parent enterprise of the project, JSC NPO Lavochkina, is consistently receiving funding, everything is going according to plan,” the scientist said.
Spacecraft stuck on Earth
According to Nathan Eismont, there are both ups and downs in the Russian space industry today. Of the latter, this is, for example, the cancellation of the launch of the landing module of the ExoMars project.
ExoMars is a joint program of the European Space Agency (EKA) and Roscosmos for the UK and explorers of this planet. “ExoMars” detection in itself migratory and implementable modules with the rover. However, in July of this year. EKA has canceled the announcement of the upcoming autumn mission to NWO.
And this, according to a speaker in Moskovskaya Gazeta, is a serious problem, because important joint work was carried out by the Russian Academy of Sciences, Roscosmos and Europe with high scientific organizations: “In October, the launch should take place, which had to be postponed. However, this kind of mission cannot be delayed for a day or two – in the case of a flight to Mars, this is almost two plus years. In the meantime, our spacecraft was stuck somewhere in Turin, the instruments also received, completely ready for launch, hovering in a state of uncertainty.”
“What will happen after this time? Hard to say. Although Rogozin, who was still the director of Roskosmos, somehow too confidently assured that we had provided everything. Well, I don’t know … It’s too much work, and not everything can be done by yourself. As a rule, this includes scientific cooperation, including the whole world. And if someone dropped out of this cooperation, it will be difficult for him to return to the board, ”said Eismont.
Another trouble, in his opinion, is the X-ray Gamma Spectrum project – a flying observatory that creates a map of the Universe in solar radiation. The equipment worked together with public and German, and both were excellent, the results were amazing. But, alas, the Europeans suspended the work of their telescope. EU scientists are upset, but they did not make the decision, but they turned out to be stronger than science, the scientists explained.
Cooperation in space continues despite
However, as the interlocutor of Moskovskaya noted, there are examples of other solutions: now there is another ExoMars orbiter in Mars orbit, sent to the Red Planet back in 2016 in order to search for signs of life, primarily the methane investigator. And in this part of the project, the work continues in working order. The results of measurements following the transit stations are mainly in Russia.
“American researchers, by the way, also, as a rule, do not stop joint projects with us. Take the ISS, which operates without a hitch: both joint projects and cross-crews. In general, the ISS is a convincing example showing that science should be out of politics. The likelihood of great damage to all,” said Nathan Eismont.
That is why, according to the expert, many projects continue to live. As the Russian lunar program continues, in a year it is planned to launch the Luna-25 interplanetary station, then two more. Here, too, work is going according to plan to the extent possible for technological processes.
Purpose: to turn your minuses into pluses
“But if we talk about the study of distant planets, then here we have accumulated a serious backlog,” says Eismont. – The reason is the underfunding of previous years. Space exploration is a very expensive pleasure. And if we risk the level of investments, then we risk reducing the development of special consumption technologies. So it was with outer space. There are promising projects here, for example, “Zeus” seems to be possible to use on a computer with nuclear engines, but for now it’s a big theory.
Another space link where we are inferior, in his opinion, is the constellation of satellites. The same underfunding, coming from the 90s, also affected. And such an echo will respond for a long time. The problem is systemic: there are personnel losses and the discovery of technologies. Overcoming such a backlog is a matter of a long time and significant resources, the growth of investments is needed not by interest, but by several times.
“Will such spending be bought? Of course! – Nathan Eismont is sure. – Investments in space give a multiplicative effect on the development of the entire economy. In addition, there is such an argument as the prestige of the country. And this option is also expensive.