Venus Life Finder mission

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The purpose of the Venus Life Finder mission series is to assess the habitability of the Venusian clouds and later search for life there. The scientists of Tartu Observatory of the University of Tartu proposed two instruments for measuring acidity and oxygen content for the mission. This is the first time that Estonia has participated in a mission exploring another planet.

If everything goes as planned, a space probe will launch from Earth to Venus in 2026. In three months, it will arrive there, glide through the clouds of the Venus atmosphere and send data about the environment there to Earth. What chemical compounds are found in the clouds of Venus? How much oxygen is there? What wind is blowing? How acidic is the environment? And most importantly: are there traces of life in the clouds of Venus or life itself?

One of the probe's most important sensors was invented in Tõravere: the prototype for the unique acidity-tasting "tongue" was ready here in the summer of 2021.

Regular pH sensors meant for use on Earth aren’t reliable for the conditions on Venus, since the instruments aren’t usually meant for such high acidity. In addition, instruments meant for space have to be durable enough to survive the whole journey. Therefore, quite a robust instrument is planned, which is composed of a camera that’s pointed at the glass plate. The glass plate itself is covered with a fluorescent dye that is excited by UV LEDs. When encountering the droplets of Venus’ clouds, the camera will measure the excitation response, which gives us data about the acidity of the droplets encountered.

The missions are led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States.

Private companies primarily fund the project and the missions are developed without the space agencies.

Read the Space Travel Blog article about Tartu Observatory participation in the mission.

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