The EnVision Venus mission

Jérémie Lasue and Romain Mathon – IRAP

Envision has been selected as the fifth medium mission (M5) of ESA’s
Cosmic Vision programme, with a launch planned for December 2031.
Its objectives are to determine the surface geology of Venus, its
possible current activity and its interactions with the planet’s
atmosphere in order to understand how Venus and Earth have evolved
so differently.

IRAP contributes to the international consortium developing the
imaging spectrometer instruments of the mission. Obesrvations from
the UV to the infrared will detect time variations of the surface
temperature and gas concentrations in the atmosphere. These measurements
will be key in understanding the Venus atmosphere chemistry and in
determining its relationship with the surface activity. IRAP is
responsible for the mechanical design concept of the UV channel
of the instrument (Venspec-U), which will be described more
particularly during the presentation.