India can put spacecraft on Venus in very short time; action plan, funds ready: ISRO chief

The Indian Space and Research Organisation (ISRO) is ready to cosign an orbiter to Earth's twin sister planet Venus, the ISRO chairman said during a one-day conclave to deliberate on space-based studies. With the objective to study the Venusian atmosphere, the Indian space research agency is set to construct and launch a mission to discover Venus as the capability to build and launch a mission to the said planet exists with India, S Somnath said.

The ISRO chairman said that the work on the mission to Venus has been going on for years and that the space agency is prepared with an action plan along with the funds needed to sustain the exploration. The mission has been titled- Outstanding Science Questions of Venus and the proposed Venus Orbiter Mission by the ISRO.

ISRO's mission to Venus atmosphere will have an impact globally: S Somnath

"Work has been going on for years. Currently, the Venus mission is conceived, the project report is made, overall plans are ready, money is identified and all that thing is done. Building and putting a mission on Venus is possible for India in a very short space of time, as the capability today exists with India," Somnath said while indicating that the ISRO team will work toward the mission while identifying the uniqueness of the operation, akin to what the country witnessed during the Chandrayaan and Mangalyaan missions of the ISRO. 

"Goal is to review that unique additional knowledge observation can be done and see that we are not repeating what all has already been done. Repeating some of them is not a crime but if we bring uniqueness, it will have an impact globally. It will be hailed only if it is unique, just like the Chandrayaan and the Mars mission," Somnath said. 

ISRO's Venus mission

In the presentation prepared by the ISRO, the surface of Venus is said to be 'dry and dusty' while ISRO's chemical analysis of the surface rock indicated basalt and 'some terrestrial-like granite'. The purpose of the investigation is said to understand the 'geologic and resurfacing history' of Venus with the aim to detect impact caters for the Earth's sister planet. Studying cloud dynamics and morphology will also be taken up under ISRO's mission on Venus.