ISRO pushing Venus mission ‘Shukrayaan’ to 2031?

• ISRO stated that it is yet to receive approval from Indian government for Venus mission, as a result mission may be delayed until 2031.
• In 2031, Earth and Venus would be aligned in manner that it would require minimum amount of propellant for spacecraft to enter Venus orbit.
• Shukrayaan I will be an orbiter mission. Its scientific payloads include high-resolution synthetic aperture radar and ground-penetrating radar.
• Mission is expected to study Venus’s geological and volcanic activity, emissions on ground, wind speed, cloud cover, and other planetary characteristics from an elliptical orbit.
• Mission Challenges: Venus has crushing air pressure at its surface, which is 90 times more than Earth’s, and its atmosphere is highly toxic and filled with sulphuric acid that causes a powerful greenhouse effect.
• Other mission to Venus: Venera program (Russia); Akatsuki project (Japan); VERITASe., Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy, Mariner 2 and Magellan (NASA); EnVision mission (Europe) etc.

About Venus

• Venus is second planet from Sun and sixth in solar system in size and mass.
• Often referred to as Earth’s twin. Both planets are almost alike in size, density and gravity.
• At 850 degrees Fahrenheit, it is hottest planet in solar system.
• It rotates on its axis backward, compared to most of other planets in solar system.