IN-SITU EXPLORATION OF THE VENUS ATMOSPHERE: KEY TO UNDERSTANDING OUR SISTER WORLD

In-situ sampling of the Venus atmosphere is crucial for understanding the planet’s complex history. A detailed inventory of diagnostic atmospheric constituents oxygen – such as the noble gases and their isotopes, and the isotopes of water, nitrogen, and oxygen – can provide fundamental new insights into the origins and early evolution of Venus and nearby planets, including the Earth. Direct sampling of sulfur-bearing compounds and chemically-related reactants as a function of altitude – from Earth-like tem-perature/pressure conditions in the upper troposphere to the hot (740), dense (~94 bar) conditions near the surface – uniquely clarifies the nature of a host of atmospheric dynamical, meteorological, and chemica