Volcanology of Venus
The surface of Venus is dominated by volcanic features and has more volcanoes than any other planet in the Solar System. It has a surface that is 90% basalt, and about 65% of the planet consists of a mosaic of volcanic lava plains, indicating that volcanism played a major role in shaping its surface. There are more than 1,000 volcanic structures and possible periodic resurfacing of Venus by floods of lava. The planet may have had a major global resurfacing event about 500 million years ago, from what scientists can tell from the density of impact craters on the surface. Venus has an atmosphere rich in carbon dioxide, with a density that is 90 times greater than Earth's atmosphere.
CubeSat UV Experiment
The Venusian upper cloud deck, situated at an altitude range 60-70 km, is formed of small droplets comprising a mix of ~80% sulfuric acid () and water. About half of the solar energy received by Venus is absorbed in the UV by a still
unknown absorber situated at the top of the cloud layer. Because of its vast absorbing power, knowing its nature is very important to understand the overall radiative and thermal balance of the planet and the atmospheric dynamics. Although NASA, Roscosmos, the European Space Agency, and Japan's JAXA have dispatched multiple missions to Venus, the nature of the cloud top absorber has not been established.