Venus is one of the four terrestrial planets in the Solar System. It has a rocky body like Earth. It is like Earth in size and mass, and is often described as Earth’s “sister” or “twin”. Due to its proximity to Earth, Venus has been a prime target for early interplanetary exploration. Plans have been proposed for rovers or more complex missions, but they are hindered by Venus’s harsh surface conditions. The possibility of life on Venus has long been a topic of assumption, and in recent years has received active research.
NASA has selected two new missions to Venus, Earth’s nearby planetary neighbour. Part of NASA’s Discovery Program, the missions aim to comprehend how Venus became an inferno-like world when it has so many other characteristics similar to ours – and may have been the first liveable world in the solar system, complete with an ocean and Earth-like climate.
These investigations are the final selections from four mission concepts NASA picked in February 2020 as segment of the agency’s Discovery 2019 competition. Following a competitive, peer-review process, the two missions were chosen based on their potential scientific value and whether they are feasible or not on the basis of their development plans. The project teams will now work to conclude their requirements, designs, and development plans.
NASA is providing approximately $500 million per mission for development. Each is expected to launch in the 2028-2030 timeframe.
The selected missions are:
DAVINCI+ (Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging)
DAVINCI+ will calculate the composition of Venus’ atmosphere to understand how it formed and evolved, as well as settle on whether the planet ever had an ocean. The mission consists of a declined sphere that will dive through the planet’s thick atmosphere, making exact measurements of noble gases and other elements to understand why Venus’ atmosphere is a runaway hothouse compared the Earth’s.
In addition, DAVINCI+ will give the first high resolution pictures of the rare geological features on Venus known as “tesserae”. It may be similar to Earth’s continents, suggesting that Venus has plate tectonics. This would be the first U.S.-led mission to Venus’ atmosphere since 1978, and the results from DAVINCI+ could reshape our perception of terrestrial planet creation in our solar system and beyond. James Garvin of Goddard Space Flight Centre in Greenbelt, Maryland, is the main investigator. Goddard has provided project management.
VERITAS (Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy)
VERITAS will map Venus’ surface to decide the planet’s geologic history and comprehend why it developed so differently than Earth. Orbiting Venus with a synthetic aperture radar, VERITAS will chart surface elevations over nearly the entire planet to create 3D reconstructions of topography and confirm whether processes such as plate tectonics and volcanism are still active on Venus.
VERITAS also will record infrared emissions from Venus’ surface to map its rock type, which is largely unknown, and determine whether active volcanoes are releasing water vapor into the atmosphere. Suzanne Smrekar of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, is the main investigator. JPL provides project management. The German Aerospace Center will provide the infrared mapper with the Italian Space Agency and France’s Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales contributing to the radar and other parts of the mission.
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