Envision studying Venus

This video describes the deployment of Envision's instruments VenSAR and SRS, as well as some basic spacecraft operations. VenSAR is a Synthetic Aperture Radar, and will map the surface of Venus using a range of modes including imaging at spatial resolutions of 10 m to 30 m, altimetry, polarimetry and radiometry. The Subsurface Sounding Radar (SRS) will penetrate into the top kilometre of the subsurface, and search for underground layering and buried boundaries. Three spectrometers (VenSpec-U, VenSpec-H and VenSpec-M), operating in the ultraviolet and infrared, will map trace gases, including searching for volcanic gas plumes, above and below the clouds, and map surface composition. A gravity and radio science investigation will use radio tracking to map the planet’s gravity field, constraining internal structure, and will measure atmospheric properties through radio occultation.