VenSpec-H Swiss Contribution - HSLU Part

ESA's EnVision will provide holistic view of the planet to determine how and why Venus and Earth evolved so differently. HSLU - as part of the Swiss Consortium under BIRA - is responsible for the VenSpec-H filter wheel as well as the cross-consortium SE.

Brief information

School:

Engineering and Architecture

Status:

Ongoing

Period:

01.06.2022 - 31.05.2030

Overview

ESA's next Venus orbiter (EnVision) will provide holistic view of the planet from its inner core to upper atmosphere to determine how and why Venus and Earth evolved so differently. The mission selected by ESA's Science Programme Committee as the fifth medium-class mission in the Agency's Cosmic Vision plan, targeting a launch in the early 2030s. The VenSpec instrument (Venus Spectrometer) suite is the main instrument of the mission and beign developed by the Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA). In particular it contains the VenSpec-H instrument (Venus Spectrometer with High resolution), which will monitor the composition of minor species in the lower atmosphere on the night side and above the clouds on the day side, the characterisation of volcanic plumes and other sources of gas exchange with the surface of Venus. VenSpec-H will focus on the volcanic and cloud forming gases and search for composition anomalies potentially related to the volcanic activity. 
HSLU is part of the selected Swiss Consortium for the VenSpec-H mission, together with ETHZ, FHNW, Space Accoustics and Koegl Space. HSLU is responsible for the Swiss Consortium Systems Engineering and the filter wheel within the VenSpec-H instrument. The Filter Wheel will perform more than 1.5 Mio revolutions, changeing filters for different scientific observation. Hence, the tribological behaviour is of paramount importance.

Facts

Type of project

Forschung

Internal organisations involved
  • Engineering and Architecture
  • Institute of Mechanical Engineering and Energy Technology IME
  • CC Mechanical Systems
External project partner
External project funder
Funding
  • andere

Links

Persons involved: internal

Project manager
Member of project team

Publications