Berlin May 2023

We would like to invite you to join us at the 2023 EnVision Venus science workshop, to be held on 9-11 May 2023 at the German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Planetary Research, Berlin, Germany. 

EnVision was selected in 2021 as ESA’s 5th Medium-class mission to Venus, and the mission adoption is scheduled for February/March 2024. It is a mission in partnership with NASA, where NASA provides the Synthetic Aperture Radar payload. The EnVision scientific objective is to provide a holistic view of the planet from its inner core to its upper atmosphere, studying the planets history, activity and climate. The science objectives will be addressed by its five instruments and one experiment. The NASA VenSAR S-band radar will provide targeted polarimetric imagery as well as radiometry and altimetry observations. The high frequency Subsurface Radar Sounder (SRS), provided by Italy, will penetrate the upper 100 m to 1 km of the planets’ surface. Three spectrometers, VenSpec-U (provided by France), Ven-Spec-H (provided by Belgium) and VenSpec-M (provided by Germany), are operated in the UV and near and shortwave Infrared wavelength range. The VenSpec suite will map trace gases, including search for volcanic gas plumes above and below the clouds, and map sur-face emissivity and composition. A Radio Science Experiment (RSE) investigation is exploiting the spacecraft Telemetry Tracking and Command (TT&C) system to observe the planet’s gravity field and to sound the structure and composition of the middle atmosphere and the cloud layer in radio occultation.

The workshop objective is to bring the science community and participating space agencies together to present and discuss the EnVision mission preparation, and how it will contribute to Venus, planetary and exoplanetary science in the coming decades. Furthermore, dedicated sessions will focus on synergies with other past and upcoming Venus missions and on the consolidation of the EnVision report for adoption (the EnVision Red Book). During these sessions, the workshop participants will be invited to discuss around the following questions;

  • What excites you most about the EnVision mission?
  • How well does it address its scientific questions and objectives?
  • How do you see EnVision scientifically and synergistically collaborating with other Venus missions?

The workshop topics are listed on the workshop website. Participants are invited to submit abstracts addressing one or more of these. On behalf of the workshop organization and science committees, we are looking forward to welcoming you in Berlin!  

With kind regards,

ESA Conference Bureau – on behalf of the Workshop Organizing Committee

  • Tatiana Bocanegra-Bahamon (NASA JPL)
  • Joern Helbert (Inst. for Planetary Research, DLR)
  • Adriana Ocampo (NASA)
  • Anne Grete Straume-Lindner (ESA)
  • Thomas Voirin (ESA)
  • Thomas Widemann (LESIA, Observatoire de Paris)
  • Representatives of DLR local organiser
  • ESA conference Bureau (ATPI)