Venus Findings Unlikely To Spark Space Race But Can Propel International Space Research

Even though world's leading space powers - Russia and the United States - seem agitated by latest findings suggesting Venus might be hosting forms of life, a renewed space race between the powers is unlikely to emerge, while the recent discovery itself needs verification, experts told Sputnik

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd September, 2020) Even though world's leading space powers - Russia and the United States - seem agitated by latest findings suggesting Venus might be hosting forms of life, a renewed space race between the powers is unlikely to emerge, while the recent discovery itself needs verification, experts told Sputnik.

Scientists from the UK Cardiff University and the US Massachusetts Institute of Technology have recently discovered the presence of phosphine, which is on Earth produced by anaerobic organisms, in the atmosphere of Venus. Presence of phosphine was suggested in 2019 as an indicator of life on other planets.

These revelations have suddenly shifted the focus of leading space powers from Mars to Venus. NASA Chief Jim Bridenstine has said that "it's time to prioritize Venus," while Russia's space corporation Roscosmos expressed doubt over the findings, saying that reliable data could be obtained only through contact studies of the surface and atmosphere of Venus. Roscosmos also backtracked on plans to launch a joint mission with the US - called Venera-D - to study the planet. The agency explained that it wants to conduct a mission "without broad international cooperation."

TIMES HAVE CHANGED, CLEARING PATHWAY FOR INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

Russia and the United States were engaged in a space race back in 1960s and 1970s, but this time the exploration of Venus will likely be conducted in a form of competition, which will only be beneficial to the research, the experts have said.

"I don't particularly see this as starting a new space race, but agencies will seek to develop new missions to Venus with the aim of understanding this planet more and with a renewed focus. There may be an element of competition in being the first agency to get new missions to the planet, but there will also need to be significant collaboration to bring together the technologies needed to operate in the challenging conditions in the atmosphere of Venus and on the planetary surface,'' Martin Barstow, professor of astrophysics and space science with the University of Leicester's school of Physics & Astronomy, told Sputnik.

Philip J. Stooke, an associate professor at the Department of Geography and the Centre for Planetary Science and Exploration of the University of Western Ontario, in his comments to Sputnik agreed with Barstow.

"I am not sure about a new space race. I think the Moon and Mars will remain as goals of the greatest importance. But Venus has been overlooked for a long time and this may push it up higher in the list of priorities. It is very unfortunate that the only images we have of the surface taken by landers (all from the Soviet Union) are several decades old. I would like to see some additional competition among nations to speed up surface exploration of Venus, but I don't think it will amount to a new space race," Stooke underlined.

Multilateral international cooperation now lies at a core of space exploration as it is the most viable method to advance the research, Jim Bell, professor with the Arizona State University's School of Earth & Space Exploration, told Sputnik.

"Regarding a potential 'space race': in my opinion, I do not believe that this result, or any other, will lead to a situation like existed back in the 1960s.

The world is very different today, as is, in my opinion, the motivation for the exploration of space. I believe that we are now in a time of significant and important international collaboration and cooperation in the exploration of space, and that this collaboration and cooperation will only increase as time goes on and as the world's ambitions for space exploration increase in scope and complexity," Bell said.

Henry R. Hertzfeld, research professor of space policy and international affairs with the George Washington University and a former NASA analyst, noted that space technologies are now available to many countries, unlike 50 years ago.

"Space technology today is relatively mature, capable of doing many things in space well, and is now available to many nations with the funds and desire to participate. Sure, China, European nations, Japan, India and others may also engage in more space activities, particularly those that might be interesting for many reasons, scientific as well as other uses of space. Again, it will not necessarily be a race, but it will be competitive along with encouraging many new international collaborations as well," Hertzfeld told Sputnik.

VENUS FINDINGS NEED VERIFICATION

Despite the international community's excitement about the latest findings suggesting life exists on Venus, this discovery need further validation, the experts believe.

"In my opinion, while the results and interpretations reported could have interesting implications for the atmosphere of Venus in general, I do not believe that provide sufficient evidence to support what would be an extraordinary claim regarding the biologic origin of the observed atmospheric chemistry. The study does reveal, however, that we really need to work harder and collect more data to understand the complicated atmosphere of our planetary neighbor Venus," Bell said.

Looking into the telescopic data previously obtained by Russia and the United States may show the evidence supporting new findings, according to Stooke.

"Space exploration is slow and steady. Before anything else happens it will be necessary to confirm these observations. The published study uses telescopic data but many spacecraft have visited Venus and all their data will now be examined with the utmost care to see if they support the new results. ... If new telescopic observations or old spacecraft data support the published result it may be time to plan a new mission," the University of Western Ontario professor noted.

Barstow believes that if the detected gas is proved to be of biological origin, it will become an important milestone in Solar System research, but as of now the findings need further confirmation.

"This is an amazing discovery. If the gas detected is eventually proved to have a biological origin, it will certainly be seen to be a defining moment in our understanding of life in the Solar System and in the Universe. However, more work is going to be needed to understand the origin of the signal. So, in the near term, it will focus more attention on Venus than has been the case in recent years. There has been a lot of attention paid to Mars in the search for life. Venus must now also be included in these searches," the space science professor concluded.