The SOFIA telescope has unsuccessfully ended its search for life on Venus. This was reported by the University Space Researchers Association.

SOFIA is a far-infrared observatory mounted on a specially modified Boeing 747 aircraft, and operating at an altitude of 13 kilometers, image quality was believed to be close to space telescopes at a much lower cost. During the work, some scientific results were achieved, but the idea was considered unsuccessful and did not justify itself in terms of the result-price ratio, and therefore the project was closed in the fall of 2022.

So far, scientists have analyzed data about Venus collected by the telescope. First of all, they tried to confirm or deny the presence of phosphine in the atmosphere of Venus, whose discovery reports caused a heated debate in the scientific community in 2020. This combination is considered a sign of life, because, according to some researchers, only biological processes can ensure its stable existence. Yes, it is formed during the decomposition of organic matter in swamps on Earth. It was difficult to study SOFIA and Venus, because this planet is always close to the Sun and can be observed only half an hour after sunset, and the plane had to arrive at the take-off point at a predetermined time. A total of three flights were devoted to the observation of Venus in 2021.

As a result, the researchers found no signs of phosphine. According to their findings, if phosphine is present in the Venusian atmosphere, its abundance is no more than 0.8 parts per billion, much lower than what was reported in the original 2020 paper.