Search for traces of volcanism in the Venusian atmosphere
Search for traces of volcanism in the Venusian atmosphere
The infrared spectrometer developed by the University of Münster and the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) for ESA's BepiColombo mission will also search for traces of gases that could provide evidence of active volcanism on Venus, such as sulphur dioxide, during the spacecraft’s Venus flyby on 15 October 2020. Measurements of the planet’s atmosphere will be made from distances between 1.4 million and 200,000 kilometres away. From radar images, such as those recorded during the global mapping of Venus carried out by NASA's Magellan orbiter, it is known that there are thousands of volcanoes on Venus (image: Maat Mons, 4000 metres high), some of which are believed to still be active.
