Question: Which of the following spacecraft recently detected a natural radio signal from the upper atmosphere of planet Venus?
a) Parker
b) Juno
c) MAVEN
d) None of these
Answer: (a)
Related Facts:-
- On 03 May 2021 a study published by NASA revealed that Parker Solar Probe detected a natural radio signal from the upper atmosphere of planet Venus.
- This kind of detection came On July 11, 2020, when Parker Solar Probe swung by Venus in its third flyby.
- It therefore revealed that the spacecraft had flown through the planet’s upper atmosphere during a brief swing by Venus.
- This was the first direct measurement of the Venusian atmosphere in nearly 30 years and it looks quite different from Venus past.
- By bouncing radio waves off Venus, scientists were able to gain new information about the planet.
- The new detection of radio waves by Parker Probe confirms that Venus’ upper atmosphere undergoes complicated changes over a solar cycle, the Sun’s 11-year activity cycle.
- This marks the latest clue to untangling how and why Venus and Earth are so different.
- Born of similar processes, Earth and Venus are twins: both rocky, and of similar size and structure. But their paths diverged from birth.
- Venus lacks a magnetic field, and its surface broils at temperatures hot enough to melt lead.
- At most, spacecraft have only ever survived a couple hours there. Studying Venus, inhospitable as it is, helps scientists understand how these twins have evolved, and what makes Earth-like planets habitable or not.
- Each flyby is designed to leverage the planet’s gravity to fly the spacecraft closer and closer to the Sun.
- The mission is being managed by Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland.
- The Parker probe made its closest flyby of Venus this time, passing just 517 miles (833 km) above the surface.
More information about recent research on Planet Venus:-
- The researchers used NASA’s Goldstone Antenna in the Mojave Desert of California to send radio waves toward Venus.
- They sent these waves towards this hot and rocky planet, 21 times between 2006 and 2020 and studied the radio echo.
- Their study revealed knowledge about the planet’s characteristics.
The analysis determined the tilt of Venus’s axis as well as the size of the planet’s centre.