By Neha Yadav
Published Oct 01, 2023

Hindustan Times
In Focus

Photo Credits: Freepik

ISRO's mission to Venus: Shukrayaan-1

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced that the space agency is making progress in its Venus mission, informally referred to as 'Shukrayaan-1' 

Here's everything you need to know about ISRO's mission to Venus

ISRO announced this mission to conduct a comprehensive study of the planet Venus, often referred to as "Earth's twin"

The mission will examine both the surface and atmosphere of Venus and analyse its geological composition for the possibility of life

ISRO chief S Somanath said, "Venus is a very interesting planet. It also has an atmosphere. Its atmosphere is so thick. The atmospheric pressure is 100 times that of Earth and it is full of acids…Earth could be one day Venus. I don’t know"

Somanath added, "Maybe 10,000 years later we (Earth) change our characteristics. Earth was never like this. It was not a habitable place long long back"

The Shukrayaan mission has been configured and several payloads are currently in the development phase

NASA has expressed skepticism about the possibility of life on Venus. However, some scientists expect the potential existence of microbes in Venus's upper atmosphere

European Space agency's Venus Express, Japan's Akatsuki Venus Climate Orbiter and NASA's Parker Solar Probe have been some of the recent missions that have studied Venus