NASA Sending two new Missions to Venus

Nasa announces it is sending two new missions to Venus in order to study the atmosphere and geological features of the planet.

The missions are due for launch between 2028 and 2030, and each awarded with $500m (£352m) in funding.

The Magellan orbiter was the last US probe to visit Venus, in 1990. The new missions offer Nasa the chance to investigate a planet they haven’t been to in over 30 years. However, spacecraft from Europe and Japan have orbited the planet since then.

Nasa administrator Bill Nelson explains, “these two sister missions both aim to understand how Venus became an inferno-like world, capable of melting lead at the surface”. Following the process of a peer review, these were the picked missions. They were chosen due to their potential scientific value and feasible development plans

Venus has a surface temperature of 500C, making it the hottest planet in our solar system, and hot enough to melt lead. It is the second closest planet to the sun, after Mercury.

The Missions

The first mission is Davinci+ (Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging). This is intended to measure the planet’s atmosphere to gain insight into how it formed and evolved. One of its other aims is also to determine if there was ever an ocean on Venus. They expect this mission to provide the first high resolution images of the planet’s “tesserae” geological features. These features suggest that the planet has plate tectonics, which scientists believe are comparable to continents on Earth.

The second mission is Veritas (Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy). This is designed to map the planet’s surface to understand its geological history. In addition, it will examine how Venus developed so differently to Earth. A form of radar will be used to chart rising surfaces, and find out if volcanoes and earthquakes are still occurring.

According to Tom Wagner from Nasa’s Planetary Science Division, we know very little about the planet Venus. He is amazed that we don’t know more. But he has high hopes for the two missions and their combined results. He says, they “will tell us about the planet from the clouds in the sky through the volcanoes on its surface all the way down to its very core. It will be as if we have rediscovered the planet”.

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