Simulating the VERITAS Gravity Investigation: Challenges and Advancements

Kurzfassung

VERITAS, the upcoming NASA Discovery mission to Venus, will be the first probe to investigate Venus’s surface processes and interior structure since the Magellan mission concluded in 1994. Among its investigations, VERITAS will conduct a Gravity Science investigation, key to advance our understanding of Earth’s twin planet’s interior. The dual X/Ka-band tracking system, capable of Doppler accuracy of about 18 !m/s at 10s integration time, will allow to resolve the gravity field of Venus with a resolution of <106 km globally with <4 mGal RMS accuracy. Moreover, VERITAS will measure the tidal response and moment of inertia of the planet, providing an unprecedented insight on the interior structure of Venus. We present the latest numerical simulations of the gravity recovery and their implications for the characterization of the interior structure and ongoing surface processes.