Wisconsin: Is There Life Adrift in the Clouds of Venus?

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Is There Life Adrift in the Clouds of Venus?
University of Wisconsin, Madison | 2018 Mar 30

A Venus Atmospheric Maneuverable Platform, or VAMP. The aircraft, which would fly like a plane and float like a blimp, could help explore the atmosphere of Venus, which has temperature and pressure conditions that do not preclude the possibility of microbial life. (Credit: Northrop Grumman)

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In the search for extraterrestrial life, scientists have turned over all sorts of rocks.

Mars, for example, has geological features that suggest it once had — and still has — subsurface liquid water, an almost sure prerequisite for life. Scientists have also eyed Saturn’s moons Titan and Enceladus as well as Jupiter’s moons Europa, Ganymede and Callisto as possible havens for life in the oceans under their icy crusts.

Now, however, scientists are dusting off an old idea that promises a new vista in the hunt for life beyond Earth: the clouds of Venus.

In a paper published online today (March 30, 2018) in the journal Astrobiology, an international team of researchers led by planetary scientist Sanjay Limaye of the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Space Science and Engineering Center lays out a case for the atmosphere of Venus as a possible niche for extraterrestrial microbial life. ...

Venus’ Spectral Signatures and the Potential for Life in the Clouds - Sanjay S. Limaye et al

• Astrobiology (online 30 Mar 2018) DOI: 10.1089/ast.2017.1783