VENERA-D

Venera-D Joint Science Definition Team Workshop:

Potential Landing Sites and Cloud Layer Habitability 

Space Research Institute, Moscow, October 2-5, 2019

Notice of Interest to Attend: 21 June 2019

Abstract deadline : August 10, 2019 11:59 pm (Moscow Local Time, UT+3 :00 hrs) 

The Venera-D mission concept has been under development for 4 years, with the goal of advancing the investigation of Venus’ atmosphere, surface and interior and the processes that link them as a system The baseline Venera-D mission includes an orbiter, a VEGA like lander and one long life surface stations (LLISSE); potential mission augmentations may include more LLISSEs, 2 small seismic stations, a variable altitude aerial platform or perhaps one or two sub-orbiters. (please see the Phase II report www.iki.rssi.ru/events/2019/Venera-DPhaseIIFinalReport.pdf).

 

As a service to Venus community and to help with the refinement of the Venera-D mission the Space Research Institute (IKI) and the Vernadsky Institute (GEOKHI) of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Venera-D Joint Science Definition Team are hosting a four-day workshop on October 2-5, 2019 covering two themes Theme I: Potential Landing Sites; and Theme II: Cloud Layer Habitability.  

 

Theme I: Potential Landing Sites : for this theme we are seeking community input on the criteria for scientifically desirable landing sites for the Venera-D lander which could be accessible from the approach trajectory, given the known engineering constraints; and the criteria for synergies between the lander and other potential landing elements—such as multiple small stations for weather, surface boundary chemistry and dynamics, and/or seismic studies. The primary sessions exploring these topics will be held during 2-3 October (additional splinters may occur a day later). 

 

Science priorities for the landed elements of the Venera-D mission are:

surface morphology, mineralogy, aeolian processes, surface-atmosphere chemical and dynamical interactions, elemental abundances of rocks, seismology, and electrostatic charging processes

 

Theme II: Cloud Layer Habitability: for this theme we are seeking community input on the key altitudes, latitudes, methods and suitable platform options for completing habitability studies, such as aerial platforms. We are also interested in input regarding measurements that may be made from the Venera-D baseline elements that can answer key or ancillary questions in support of the study of Venus’ habitability present and past. The habitability sessions will be held 4-5 October (preliminary splinters may occur a day earlier)

 

The driving science questions for these discussions are: 

What species can survive/thrive in the clouds of Venus?

·         How do we know, what should we look for? 

Where may life at Venus have come from?

·         If it migrated from the surface to cloud –what are the tracers, what should we look for, where should we look for it?

·         If it was delivered to Venus?—what are the tracers, what should we look for?

Interested parties are invited to submit abstracts related to one or more of these four categories: 

·         1) landing sites targets: geology, mineralogy, surface morphology, seismology, atmospheric boundary studies

·         2) theoretical studies on habitability, bio species survival and atmospheric chemistry relevant to habitability and climate evolution

·         3) surface/atmosphere/bio species (micro-organism) instrumentation and sampling systems, including indications of the most suitable observing platforms

·         4) laboratory studies supporting surface/atmospheric sample analysis and cloud species identifications; this includes spectral signatures of minerals, aerosols, gases, bio species, and studies of micro-organism sustainability within Venus analog environments. 

Meeting registration fee details will be disclosed in the abstract confirmation letter.

 

Astrobiology Special Issue Opportunity: The Astrobiology journal has expressed interest in a special issue of collected papers (6-8) from the workshop.  Interested authors who would like to submit papers for the special Astrobiology issue should contact Sanjay Limaye.

 

Mid to early career scientists are encouraged to submit abstracts. Some travel support for US citizens may be possible for selected abstracts. Interested parties are requested to notify the organizers of their interest as soon as possible to help with the workshop planning. A Workshop bulletin summarizing the meeting findings will be produced—we are seeking volunteer scribes to facilitate this effort.

To indicate your interest by June 3, 2019 please e-mail venera-d@cosmos.ru and indicate in the subject line: JSDT 2019 Workshop (category of interest). Include your name and title of your abstract in the body of the message; please also include in the message your availability/willingness to serve as a volunteer scribe.

A visa to enter Russia is required for most foreign participants. Official visa letters of invitations are required to complete the visa process; these letters will be provided to participants who meet the June 21, 2019 notification of interest deadline. These letters of invitation must be submitted by each participant to the Russian consulate in each participant's home country. All potential attendees are encouraged to apply for the visa well in advance in order to avoid last minute problems. All U.S.-based scientists (self-funded or otherwise) will receive specific instructions regarding U.S. embassy visa processing.

 

For additional questions/inquiries please contact :

·         Dr. Ludmila Zasova (zasova@iki.rssi.ru) regarding Venera-D JSDT and 10M-S³

·         Dr. Mikhail Ivanov (Mikhail_Ivanov@brown.edu) for the Landing Site workshop

·         Dr. Sanjay Limaye (sslimaye@wisc.edu), Dr. Kandis-Lea Jessup (knasaven@gmail.com) & Dr. Elena Vorobyeva (el.vb0247@gmail.com) for the Astrobiology/Cloud Workshop

·         Dmitry Gorinov (dmitry_gorinov@rssi.ru) for Abstract information

·         Dr. Adriana Ocampo (aco@nasa.gov) for NASA-support related questions