The minister said that both these missions are being conceptualized and the scientific scopes are being deliberated nationally with participation of science community

New Delhi: Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has taken initiatives for feasibility studies on missions to Venus as well as aeronomy studies, said minister of state for science and technology Jitendra Singh.

In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, the minister said that both these missions are being conceptualized. “The scientific scopes are being deliberated nationally with participation of science community."

The term aeronomy was coined and introduced about 60 years ago. It refers to the scientific study of the upper atmospheric regions of the Earth and other solar system bodies. It covers the chemistry, dynamics and energy balance of both neutral and charged particles.

ISRO will send a spacecraft to orbit Venus to study what lies below its surface. It is expecting to launch the mission by December 2024 with an orbital maneuver planned for a year after that. The orbital maneuver is the use of propulsion systems to change the orbit of a spacecraft. It enables a spacecraft to enter a planet’s orbit.

In 2025, the Earth and Venus would be aligned in a manner that it would require a minimum amount of propellant for the spacecraft to enter the orbit of the hottest planet in the Solar System. A similar window to conduct the mission would next be available in 2031.

The aim of the mission is to study Venus’ atmosphere, which is toxic and corrosive in nature as clouds of sulfuric acid cover the planet. Several countries, including the United States, are also planning to send missions to Venus to try and understand how it became an inferno.