17th Meeting of the Venus Exploration Group (VEXAG)

November 6-8, 2019

Boulder, Colorado

Program and Abstracts

Wednesday, November 6, 2019
8:30 a.m.	W-120	Welcome, Introductions, and NASA Updates
11:00 a.m.	W-120	State of Venus Science and Technology I
1:30 p.m.	W-120	State of Venus Science and Technology II
3:30 p.m.	W-120	Lightning Talks for Poster Session I
4:45 p.m.	Poster Area	Poster Session: Interior, Surface and Atmospheric Observations and Processes
4:45 p.m.	Poster Area	Poster Session: Very Near and Very Far: Experimental, Telescopic, and Modeling Studies, Links to Exoplanets
Thursday, November 7, 2019
8:30 a.m.	W-120	Venus White Paper Presentations
10:35 a.m.	W-120	Venus White Paper Breakout Groups I
11:30 a.m.	W-120	Lunch and Field Trip
2:30 p.m.	W-120	Venus White Paper Breakout Groups II
3:30 p.m.	W-120	Lightning Talks for Poster Session II
4:45 p.m.	Poster Area	Poster Session: Technology, Instruments, Missions
Friday, November 8, 2019
8:30 a.m.	W-120	Findings Discussion
10:30 a.m.	W-120	Final Write-Ups and Additional Business

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

WELCOME, INTRODUCTIONS, AND NASA UPDATES

8:30 a.m. W-120

Chairs: Darby Dyar and Noam Izenberg

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Times	Authors (*Denotes Presenter)	Presentations
8:30 a.m.	Dyar M. D. Izenberg N. *	VEXAG Introduction Welcome
8:35 a.m.	McGouldrick K *	Logistics for Meeting
8:45 a.m.	NASA Representative *	NASA SMD, program presentations
9:45 a.m.		Parker Solar Probe
10:00 a.m.		Break
10:20 a.m.		Mission Update: Akatsuki
10:35 a.m.	Helbert J *	Mission Update: Bepi Colombo
10:50 a.m.		Mission Update: ISRO
11:05 a.m.	Prockter L. *	PDS

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

STATE OF VENUS SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY I

10:40 a.m. W-120

Chairs: Noam Izenberg and Darby Dyar

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Times	Authors (*Denotes Presenter)	Presentations
11:15 a.m.	Trainer M. *	Noble Gases on Venus
11:45 a.m.	Zoltai T. Hunter G. *	High Temperature Capabilities
12:15 p.m.		Lunch

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

STATE OF VENUS SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY II

1:30 p.m. W-120

Chairs: Noam Izenberg and Darby Dyar

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Times	Authors (*Denotes Presenter)	Presentations
1:30 p.m.	McGouldrick K. *	Orbit to In-Situ Atmospheric Spectroscopy
2:00 p.m.	Hensley S. *	Venus Radar
2:30 p.m.	Grimm R. *	Orbit to Surface Geophysics
3:00 p.m.		Break

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

LIGHTNING TALKS FOR POSTER SESSION I

3:30 p.m. W-120

Chairs: Noam Izenberg and Kevin McGouldrick

Every poster presenter will be allowed a 3-minute overview which can include a single slide.

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Times	Presentations
3:30 p.m.	Lightning Talks for Interior, Surface and Atmospheric Observations and Processes Posters
4:09 p.m.	Lightning Talks for Very Near and Very Far: Experimental, Telescopic, and Modeling studies, Links to Exoplanets Posters

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

POSTER SESSION: INTERIOR, SURFACE AND ATMOSPHERIC OBSERVATIONS AND PROCESSES

4:45 p.m. Poster Room

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Authors (*Denotes Presenter)	Abstract Title and Summary
Smrekar S. E. Auerbach V. Ostberg C. O’Rourke J.	How Thick is the Lithosphere of Venus? [#8035] Numerous new estimates of elastic thickness from flexure modeling are compared to global estimates from gravity and topography. High heat flow (>95 mWm^2, similar to Earth’s oceans) occurs over >40% of Venus, implying active tectonics.
Brossier J. F. Gilmore M. S. Toner K.	Low Radar Emissivity Signatures on Venus Volcanoes and Coronae: New Insights on Relative Composition and Age [#8005] We characterize how emissivity varies with altitude on Venus major volcanoes and coronae to constrain their relative composition and age. This tends to better understand the radar anomalies seen across Venus highlands.
Williams K. E. Titus T. N.	Venus Dune Analogs:  Where on Earth Do We Find Them? [#8007] Our motivation is to find analogs for Venus dunes. Using COMSOL we compute shear stress over a dune for a specified flow regime. For local shear stress, the Venusian atmosphere is approximated by both the terrestrial atmosphere and sub-aqueous case.
O’Rourke J. G. Dong C.	Detectability of Crustal Remanent Magnetism on Venus from Orbital Magnetometer Measurements [#8028] Discovering any crustal remanent magnetism would vastly improve our understanding of the early evolution of Venus. Here we simulate what future orbiters could detect—and what past orbiters may have missed—using magnetohydrodynamic models.
Moruzzi S. A. Kiefer W. S.	Thrust Faulting on Venus:  Tectonic Modeling of the Vedma Dorsa Ridge Belt [#8021] Quantitative modeling of thrust faulting in the Vedma Dorsa ridge belt requires fault displacements of 1–2 km, a faulted layer thickness of 10–20 km, and a fault dip of 25–30 degrees.
Bethell E. M. Ernst R. E. Samson C.	Morphology of Wrinkle Ridges in the Alpha Regio (V-32) Quadrangle, Venus [#8022] Twenty wrinkle ridges in the Alpha Regio (V-32) quadrangle, Venus, have been analyzed using stereo-derived topographic profiles. We report averages of wrinkle ridge widths, heights, and minimum associated shortening.
Williams Z. W. Byrne P. K. Balcerski J. A.	A Global Study of Ridge Belt Morphology and Morphometry on Venus [#8027] We collected detailed morphometric data for a globally distributed set of ridge belts. Low relief values imply that these surface expressions of crustal shortening may feature thrust faults that penetrate to shallow depths in the Venus lithosphere.
Byrne P. K. Ghail R. C. Gilmore M. S. Şengör A. M. C. Klimczak C. Solomon S. C. Khawja S. Ernst R. E.	Geological Significance of Layering in Venus Tessera Units [#8037] Layers in tessera/Volcanic or sediments?/We aim to find out.
Antonita T. M. Chaudhary R K. Imamua T.	Small Scale Gravity Waves Observed from Radio Occultation Experiments of Venus [#8033] Gravity waves are ubiquitous in any planetary atmospheres. Gravity waves are believed to play a major role in the dynamics of our twin sister, Venus. The characteristics of gravity waves in the Venusian atmosphere using the radio occultation data is studied.
Lee Y. J. García-Muñoz A. Yamada M. Yamazaki A. Watanabe S.	Global Mean Microphysical Properties of Cloud Top Aerosols on Venus Retrieved from Disk-integrated Albedo at 283 and 365 nm [#8031] We analyze observed disk-integrated albedo of Venus at 283 and 365 nm over the 0º-150º solar phase range using a Monte-Carlo radiative transfer model.
Gray C. L. Girazian Z. Peter K. S. Haeusler B. Paetzold M. Tellmann S. Nordheim T. Kovac S.	Variability of the Venusian and Martian Nightside Ionosphere After Solar Storms [#8008] We present observations of the Venusian nightside ionosphere after periods of solar storms as well as results of a monitoring campaign during solar minimum. These observations are compared to observations of the Martian nightside ionosphere.

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

POSTER SESSION: VERY NEAR AND VERY FAR: EXPERIMENTAL, TELESCOPIC, AND MODELING STUDIES, LINKS TO EXOPLANETS

4:45 p.m. Poster Room

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Authors (*Denotes Presenter)	Abstract Title and Summary
Way M. J. Kane S. R. Lupu R. E.	The First 100 Million Years and What It Can Tell Us About Venus’ History [#8015] We will demonstrate that understanding the first 100 Myr of Venus’ planetary evolution will make it easier to discern whether it was ever capable of hosting liquid water on its surface or not.
Aye K.-M. Young E. Bullock M. Ardavin N. Prater K.	Setting Up a New VENus IMage Analysis Package Called VENIM [#8043] We are creating a new community Python package for Venus image analysis. It will support pre-processing to improve SNR, image registration, and image feature flow field determination.
Dame R. H.	Bulk Density Estimation on Venus from a Modified Nettleton Method [#8039] Identifying Venus surface composition by calculating bulk density using a modified Nettleton method.
Akins A. B. Steffes P. G.	Progress on Laboratory Studies of Sulfuric Acid Vapor Opacity with Application to Ka Band Radio Occultations of Venus [#8018] Laboratory measurements of the Ka Band opacity of sulfuric acid vapor under simulated Venus conditions are ongoing at Georgia Tech. A transition between microwave and millimeter-wavelength models occurs between 30-40 GHz.
Treiman A. H. Filiberto J. Vander Kaaden K. E.	Near-Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy of Venus-Analog Rocks at Venus Surface Temperatures [#8011] Silicic igneous rocks at Venus surface temperatures have NIR reflectances of 0.2–0.5; their emissivities are calculated to be 0.8–0.5. These values imply that such rocks should be readily recognizable with orbital NIR emissivity measurements.
Radke M. J. Hörst S. M. He C. Yant M. H.	Optical Properties of Sulfuric Acid [#8032] We have measured the optical properties of concentrated sulfuric acid from 0.2 to 25 μm in order to determine the accuracy of the frequently cited measurements of Palmer and Williams (1975), which have never been replicated at short wavelengths.
Young E. F. Tsang C. C. C. Bullock M. A. McGouldrick K. Lee Y. J. Peralta J.	Venus Nightside Cloud Tracking and Spectral Image Cubes with IRTF/SpeX from 2001–2018 [#8040] We present an overview of an archive of Venus images and spectra obtained from 2001–2018 with the IRTF/SpeX instrument. The observations are available to all.
Young E. F. Bullock M. A. Skrutskie M. F. Kremic T.	Observing Venus with NASA’s High-Altitude Balloon Program [#8041] NASA’s balloon program could support a 100-day Venus Observing campaign from a near-space environment. Advantages include high spatial resolution of the cloud tops in UV filters and access to key UV and IR spectral bands.
Kane S. R. Arney G. Crisp D. Domagal-Goldman S. Glaze L. S. Goldblatt C. Grinspoon D. Head J. W. Lenardic A. Unterborn C. Way M. J. Zahnle K. J.	Venus as a Laboratory for Exoplanetary Science [#8016] This presentation will describe why characterization of Venus is critical for furthering studies of terrestrial exoplanets, including atmospheres, interiors, evolution, and defining the boundaries of habitability.
Ostberg C. Kane S. R.	Identifying Potential Venus Analogs from Exoplanet Discoveries [#8017] The Venus Zone will serve as a basis that we will tested using 3-D general circulation models coupled with future observations of planetary atmospheres. We hope this work promotes and illustrates the importance of future missions to Venus.
Slowik G. P. Dabrowski P. Kulus M. Trusek A.	The Issues of Selecting Biomarkers of Life in Laboratory Conditions for the Needs of the Venus Clouds Biotope Assessment [#8046] Authors of this study postulate an assessment of the survival of extremophilic (terrestrial-type) microorganisms under laboratory-created conditions resembling Venus atmosphere. The atmosphere will be reconstituted in multifunctional bioreactors.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

VENUS WHITE PAPER PRESENTATIONS

8:30 a.m. W-120

Chairs: Noam Izenberg and Darby Dyar

White paper authors will introduce their white paper and present a status update, call for assistance, co-signers solicitation, discussion, etc.

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Times	Authors (*Denotes Presenter)	Presentations
8:30 a.m.	Hwang H. *	Thermal Protection System Technologies for Enabling Future Venus Exploration
8:34 a.m.	McGovern P. *	Venus as a Natural Volcanological Laboratory
8:38 a.m.	Burr D. *	Planetary Wind Tunnel Facility
8:44 a.m.	Komjathy A. *	Investigating Dynamical Processes on Venus with Infrasound Observations from Balloon and Orbit
8:50 a.m.	Limaye S. *	Venus as an Astrobiological Target
8:56 a.m.	Whitten J. *	Venus Tessera
9:02 a.m.	Helbert J. * Dyar M. D. *	Orbital Spectroscopy of Venus
9:08 a.m.	Smrekar S. *	Venus Tectonics
9:14 a.m.	Royer E. *	Airglow as a Tracer of Venus’ Upper Atmosphere Dynamics
9:20 a.m.	McGouldrick K. *	Venus Atmosphere/Weather
9:26 a.m.	Brecht A. *	3D Venus Models
9:32 a.m.	O’Rourke J. *	Searching for Crustal Remanent Magnetism.
9:38 a.m.	Cutts J. *	Aerial Platforms
9:44 a.m.	Kremic T. *	Surface Platforms for Venus
9:50 a.m.	Venkatapathy R. *	Heatshield for Extreme Entry Environment Technology (HEEET)
9:56 a.m.	Kremic T. * Hunter G. *	Long-Lived In-situ Solar System Explorer (LLISSE)
10:02 a.m.	Gilmore M. *	Venus Flagship
10:08 a.m.	Kane S. *	Venus as a Nearby Exoplanetary Laboratory
10:14 a.m.	Izenberg N. *	EMPIRE Strikes Back
10:20 a.m.	Santos A. *	Venus Experimental Facilities
10:26 a.m.	Trieman A. *	Venus Chemistry

Thursday, November 7, 2019

VENUS WHITE PAPER BREAKOUT GROUPS I

10:35 a.m. W-120

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Representatives of white papers will give short presentations and/or updates and/or calls for assistance.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

LUNCH AND FIELD TRIP

11:30 a.m. W-120

Chairs: Bob Grimm

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Times	Presentations
11:30 a.m.	Eldorado Canyon Field Trip We will travel 20 minutes by car to scenic Eldorado Canyon and discuss how understanding Venus requires different approaches than are common in planetary geology. There is an indoor facility where we will enjoy a pre-ordered sack lunch. Lunch orders are being collected through October 28. SwRI will contribute park entrance and facility fees.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

VENUS WHITE PAPER BREAKOUT GROUPS II

2:30 p.m. W-120

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Representatives of white papers will give short presentations and/or updates and/or calls for assistance.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

LIGHTNING TALKS FOR POSTER SESSION II

3:30 p.m. W-120

Chairs: Noam Izenberg and Kevin McGouldrick

Every poster presenter will be allowed a 3-minute overview which can include a single slide.

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Times	Presentations
3:30 p.m.	Missions, Instruments, Technology Posters

Thursday, November 7, 2019

POSTER SESSION: TECHNOLOGY, INSTRUMENTS, MISSIONS

4:45 p.m. Poster Room

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Authors (*Denotes Presenter)	Abstract Title and Summary
Martynov A. B. Kosenkova A. V. Pisarenko P. D. Feofanov A. S.	“Venera-D” Spacecraft and Maneuverable Entry [#8001] Lavochkin Association is creating the Venera-D spacecraft design (development of the general design, accommodation of systems, assessment of orbit options, etc.). Launch dates between 2026 and 2031 have been evaluated.
Zasova L. Gregg T. K. P. Economou T. Eismont N. Gerasimov M. Jessup K. L. Ignatiev N. Gorinov D. Gerasimov M. Ivanov M. Khatuntsev I. Kremic T. Korablev O. Martynov A. Kosenkova A. Ocampo A. Pisarenko P.	Venera-D: A Potential Mission to Explore Venus’ Atmosphere, Surface, Interior and Plasma Environment [#8044] This is a presentation of a work done by a Russian-American Joint Science Definition team on a complex mission to Venus.
Gilmore M. S. Beauchamp P. M. 32019 Venus Flagship Science Study	A Proposed Venus Flagship Mission [#8019] This proposed Venus Flagship mission could be the first mission to trace volatile inventory, phase, movement, reservoirs and loss over Venus history.
Fu H. Fu K. Hatch K. Nemanich R. Zhao Y.	High Temperature (500 °C) GaN Based Threshold Switching Selectors for Memory Applications in Harsh Environments [#8004] We demonstrated the first 500 °C GaN based threshold switching selectors via interface engineering through an etch-then-regrowth process and a PEALD-grown Ga2O3 interlayer. The interlayer can dramatically improve the selector thermal performance.
Balcerski J. A. Hunter G. W. Colozza A. J. Makel D. A. Zborowski M. G.	LEAVES — A Mission Augmentation for Global In Situ Atmospheric Exploration [#8026] In cooperation with an orbital platform, LEAVES provides a route for highly distributed and cost-effective global exploration of Venus’ clouds.
Sauder J. Hilgemann E. Stack K. Kawata J. Parness A. Johnson M.	Hybrid Automaton Rover — Venus (HAR-V) [#8030] The Hybrid Automaton Rover-Venus (HAR-V) is an electrical/mechanical rover powered by the wind. It is designed to enable a simple electronics package to traverse to various locations on Venus, driven by a mechanically powered system.
Gasch M. J. Hwang H. H. Ellerby D. T. Venkatapathy E.	White Papers for the Next Decadal Survey:  Thermal Protection Systems and Instrumentation for Venus Missions [#8012] We are beginning to update and draft a new white paper that will consider TPS materials for atmospheric probes and landers with the most current information about the state-of-the-art suit-ability for TPS materials for Venus entry missions.
Rabinovitch J. Borner A. Gallis M. A. Sotin C. Baker J.	Cupid’s Arrow: Hypervelocity Sampling in the Upper Atmosphere of Venus [#8009] Cupid’s Arrow is a small satellite mission concept that would determine the amount of noble gases and associated isotope ratios in the Venus upper atmosphere, below the homopause.
Krishnamoorthy S. Komjathy A. Pauken M. T. Bowman D. C. Cutts J. A. Izraelevitz J. Jackson J. M. Martire L. Garcia R. F. Mimoun D.	Progress Towards Balloon-Based Seismology on Venus [#8020] We present recent progress made in our effort to measure venusquakes and other seismic activity from Venus’ upper atmosphere using a balloon. Caution: This presentation includes information about very loud and large sub-surface chemical explosions.
Venkatapathy E. Ellerby D. Gage P. Gasch M. Hash D. Hwang H. Muppudi S. Stackpoole M.	A Discussion on the Need to Sustain Mission Ready TPS and for Continued Development of Innovative Entry System Technologies [#8013] To enable future Venus missions it is necessary to sustain mission ready and promising new technologies development. VEXAG support and advocacy, as well as its members to become co-authors on the white paper is requested.
Elston J. S. Bullock M. A. Stachura M. Z. Lebonnois S.	Dynamic Soaring for Persistent Venus Upper Atmosphere Observations [#8023] Although systems have been proposed for atmospheric observations of Venus, most suffer from the inability to perform targeted sampling. We propose to address this issue using a glider capable of energy harvesting through dynamic soaring.
Way M. J. Grandidier J.	Cupids Arrows — Piercing the Heart of Venus:  A Surface Instrument Concept [#8014] Exploring the tectonic nature of Venus is crucial to understanding its present & past history of plate dynamics. We propose a novel concept that uses precise very long-term (years) monitoring of the surface of Venus over possibly 1000s of kilometers.
Nemanich R. J. Malakoutian M. Surdi H. Benipal M. Koeck F. A. Chowdhury S. Goodnick S. Lyons J.	High Temperature Diamond Electronics for Actuators and Sensors [#8025] This research is focused on high temperature diamond diodes for power control and conversion modules at the surface of Venus. The diamond diodes, characterized to 600C, showed blocking voltage of >50V and forward current density >3000A/cm^2.
Bugga R. V. Jones J. P. Pauken M. T. Glass D. E. Cutts J. A. Ahn C. C. Fultz B. T. Nock K. T. Bhakta D. Raub E.	New Power Technologies for Venus Low-Altitude and Surface Missions [#8038] Describes two new power technologies for Venus exploration: i) A long-duration variable altitude balloon using PVs, regenerative solid oxide fuel cells and metal hydrides for H2 storage and ii) High temperature batteries for long-duration landers.
Ghabuzyan L. G. Chhun C. C. Vega J. V. Bravo Z. B. Kuo J. K. Sauder J. S.	A Design Methodology of Venusian Wind Turbines. [#8042] The aim of this work is to develop a fast and lower cost design methodology to develop and optimize various turbine designs for the purpose of use within Venusian atmosphere.
Newkirk J. W.	Long Life Materials for Aggressive Sulfuric Acid Environments [#8036] An alloy developed for aggressive, hot sulfuric acid environments could be enabling for longer surface operation times on Venus.
Nikolic D. Simcic J. Madzunkov S.	Expected Performance of the QIT-MS Mass Spectrometer in Venus’ Atmosphere [#8024] We present experimental and modeling results for the performance of the JPL Quadrupole Ion Trap Mass Spectrometer and its expected response in Venus’ atmosphere. Emphasis is given to new development of the Advanced NanoJet Aerosol Separator Apparatus.
Lee K.-L. Tarau C.	24-Hour Consumable Based Cooling System for Venus Landers [#8045] Extremely hostile venusian environment presents significant challenges in the designing of the thermal management system for a Venus lander. Advanced Cooling Technologies, Inc. (ACT) has developed an innovative cooling concept.
Blake D. F. Sarrazin P. Bristow T. S. Treiman A. H. Zacny K. Morrison S.	CheMin-V: A Definitive Mineralogy Instrument for Landed Science on Venus [#8029] We describe an XRD/XRF instrument that will determine the quantitative mineralogy and elemental composition of two drilled Venus regolith samples delivered by the Honeybee Robotics Venus drill (under Venus surface conditions) in 15 minutes.
Esposito L. W. HOVER Team	Hyperspectral Observer for Venus Reconnaissance (HOVER) [#8034] The Hyperspectral Observer for Venus Reconnaissance (HOVER) is a Venus orbiter for remote sensing of its clouds, chemistry, dynamics and surface. Its main goal is understanding the mechanics of the Venus climate.
Baines K. H. Cutts J. A. Nikolic D. Madzunkov S. M. Renard J.-B. Mousis O. Barge L. M. Limaye S.	An Aerosol Instrument Package for Analyzing Venusian Cloud Particles [#8010] A lightweight, low-power instrument is being developed to measure, in-situ, (1) the gas abundances and (2) the microphysical properties of attendant aerosols (e.g., composition, number density. and size distributions) for use on future Venus missions.

Friday, November 8, 2019

FINDINGS DISCUSSION

8:30 a.m. W-120

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Times	Presentations
8:30 a.m.	Findings Discussion
10:00 a.m.	Break

Friday, November 8, 2019

FINAL WRITE-UPS AND ADDITIONAL BUSINESS

10:30 a.m. W-120

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Presentations

Final Business

EDI Working Group Activity

New Working Group Formation, if any

Other Preparations for Decadal

Next Meetings

Exoplanets in Our Backyard

Next VEXAG

Other Business