Venus’s ‘squishy’ outer shell may be resurfacing the planet, study finds

Alongside leading this study, Dr Smrekar is also heading up NASA’s upcoming Venus Emissivity, Radio science, InSAR, Topography, And Spectroscopy (VERITAS) mission, which is expected to launch within the next decade.

VERITAS has been designed to pick up where the Magellan mission left off — albeit bringing to bear higher resolution imaging and significantly lower margins of error.

A state-of-the-art synthetic aperture radar will be used to create global three-dimensional maps of Venus’s topography, while a near-infrared spectrometer will help scientists determine what the planet’s surface is made of.

Alongside this, the VERITAS spacecraft will also be taking measurements of the planet’s gravitational field in order to help probe the structure of Venus’s interior.

Dr Smrekar concluded: “VERITAS will be an orbiting geologist, able to pinpoint where these active areas are, and better resolve local variations in lithospheric thickness.

“We’ll even be able to catch the lithosphere in the act of deforming. We’ll determine if volcanism really is making the lithosphere ‘squishy’ enough to lose as much heat as Earth, or if Venus has more mysteries in store.”

The full findings of the study were published in the journal Nature Geoscience.

Article source: https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1739475/venus-squishy-outer-shell-resurfacing-the-planet-nasa-study