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Discovering the Secrets of a Lost Habitable World

Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, & Spectroscopy

Enabling Future Science Missions with VERITAS Global High-Resolution Surface Mapping

Michael Lisano and Suzanne Smrekar Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology

James Head Dept. of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, Brown University

September 15, 2019 VERITAS: Title of Presentation Discovering the Secrets of a Lost Habitable World Venus Exploration: a Mars Analogy

• Imagine systematic, multi-mission Venus exploration akin to today’s NASA Mars Exploration Program. • What are the prospects for this to happen?

EPSC-DPS Sept 2019 VERITAS: Enabling Future Venus Science Missions with VERITAS Global High-Resolution Surface Mapping 2 Discovering the Secrets of a Lost Habitable World Venus Exploration: a Mars Analogy

• The situation for Venus geological exploration today resembles that of Mars in 1995: • Planet is widely considered “Dry, Dead & Dull” based on old data, which have already been exhaustively leveraged by the community. • Imagery of the surface exist, but from decades earlier (i.e. 1990’s radar imagery compared with 1970’s Viking orbiter imagery). • No U.S. mission has returned to map or land on the planet’s surface in the decades since. • … But for future mission planning - these old (Magellan, Viking) images don’t sufficiently resolve which geological sites are key to target, or which sites harbor local surface hazards, etc.

EPSC-DPS Sept 2019 VERITAS: Enabling Future Venus Science Missions with VERITAS Global High-Resolution Surface Mapping 3 Discovering the Secrets of a Lost Habitable World Venus Exploration: a Mars Analogy

• The situation for Venus geological exploration today resembles that of Mars in 1995: • Planet is widely considered “Dry, Dead & Dull” based on old data, which have already been exhaustively leveraged by the community. • Imagery of the surface exist, but from decades earlier (i.e., 1990’s Magellan radar imagery compared with 1970’s Viking orbiter imagery). • No U.S. mission has returned to map or land on the planet’s surface in the decades since. • … But for future mission planning - these old (Magellan, Viking) images don’t sufficiently resolve which geological sites are key to target, or which sites harbor local surface hazards, etc.

• The present era of Mars exploration was enabled by high-resolution, global surface maps, from MOC and MOLA on Mars Global Surveyor.

EPSC-DPS Sept 2019 VERITAS: Enabling Future Venus Science Missions with VERITAS Global High-Resolution Surface Mapping 4 Discovering the Secrets of a Lost Habitable World Venus Exploration: a Mars Analogy

• Today - systematic, multi-mission Venus exploration awaits global topographic, compositional geologic maps, that exceed Magellan resolution.

EPSC-DPS Sept 2019 VERITAS: Enabling Future Venus Science Missions with VERITAS Global High-Resolution Surface Mapping 5 Discovering the Secrets of a Lost Habitable World Venus Exploration: a Mars Analogy

• Today - systematic, multi-mission Venus exploration awaits global topographic, compositional geologic maps, that exceed Magellan resolution.

• VERITAS maps and active-region data would provide the needed reconnaissance of Venus for future exploration, just as MGS data did for Mars!

EPSC-DPS Sept 2019 VERITAS: Enabling Future Venus Science Missions with VERITAS Global High-Resolution Surface Mapping 6 Discovering the Secrets of a Lost Habitable World VERITAS Mapping Data and Future Missions

• VERITAS global radar maps are much higher resolution than Magellan Parameter Magellan VERITAS

Image Resolution 120-300 m 250 m 30 m 15 m

Coverage 99% 100% 100% 25%

Radiometric Resolution 1.75 dB 0.35 dB 0.95 dB 2.0 dB VERITAS’ DEM has the needed Topographic Resolution 20 km 250 m resolution to discover narrow deformation zones such as strike-slip plate Vertical Accuracy 80-100 m 5 m boundaries not apparent in image data • This level of resolution not only enables better science target selection but also provides ability to evaluate and select safe landing sites on Venus. • VERITAS mineralogical maps are also global, and feature more spectroscopic channels than predecessor data had • Knowing the locations and diversity of rock types enables science target selection, and motivates new science investigations e.g., to look for mineralogical indications of ancient surface water

EPSC-DPS Sept 2019 VERITAS: Enabling Future Venus Science Missions with VERITAS Global High-Resolution Surface Mapping 7 Discovering the Secrets of a Lost Habitable World VERITAS Mapping Data and Future Missions, cont’d

• Having this new global, high-resolution knowledge - of topography, geological units, and rock types - in hand by 2031 specifically informs and enhances planning and design of future Venus missions, e.g.: • Landers (prevent “1 sample” problems like w/ probe) • Balloon-based regional explorers (e.g. VERITAS maps enable aerial studies of rock type diversity in regions, e.g. traverse over tesserae) • Orbiting seismometry mission (with confirmed locales of active regions from VERITAS)

• VERITAS also provides key data useful for future radar missions (e.g. EnVision, -D) • VERITAS global SAR and topographic maps serve future ultra-high-resolution radar imagers in an analogous manner to MGS MOLA, MOC (and partly HRSC) data providing MRO HiRISE with better targeting than Viking orbiter imagery

EPSC-DPS Sept 2019 VERITAS: Enabling Future Venus Science Missions with VERITAS Global High-Resolution Surface Mapping 8 Discovering the Secrets of a Lost Habitable World Bootstrapping Resolution for Venus, as on Mars!

EnVision Very high resolution of targets

Targeted 5-30 m scale S-band polarimetric imagery VERITAS

Magellan 30 m scale global X-band imagery 15 m scale imagery 25% surface 250 m scale topography Pioneer Venus with 5 m elevation accuracy RPI deformation measurements 2 cm precision at 50 m 150 m scale S-band imagery 20 km scale topography with 50 m elevation accuracy 20-30 km scale topography and S-band radar backscatter

1978 1990 2025 2032

EPSC-DPS Sept 2019 VERITAS: Enabling Future Venus Science Missions with VERITAS Global High-Resolution Surface Mapping 9 Discovering the Secrets of a Lost Habitable World Takeaway Message

• Comprehensive global high-resolution topographic, gravity and rock type maps from VERITAS, along with active-site detections will • Aid and even enable broad categories of long-anticipated Venus missions • And usher in new science missions at Venus while enabling “habitable exoplanet” exploration objectives

EPSC-DPS Sept 2019 VERITAS: Enabling Future Venus Science Missions with VERITAS Global High-Resolution Surface Mapping 10