NASA Selects 2 Missions to Study ‘Lost Habitable’ World of Venus

[Waspie_Dwarf]

NASA Selects 2 Missions to Study ‘Lost Habitable’ World of Venus

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NASA has selected two new missions to Venus, Earth’s nearest planetary neighbor. Part of NASA’s Discovery Program, the missions aim to understand how Venus became an inferno-like world when it has so many other characteristics similar to ours – and may have been the first habitable 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 part 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 the feasibility of their development plans. The project teams will now work to finalize their requirements, designs, and development plans.

NASA is awarding approximately $500 million per mission for development. Each is expected to launch in the 2028-2030 timeframe.

  Read More: NASA

 

[Grim Reaper 6]

NASA announced last week that for the first time in more than 30 years, it is sending not one, but two missions to Venus. What does the space agency hope to accomplish?   

Yes. In 1962, Venus became the first planet to be explored by a spacecraft, when NASA's Mariner 2 flew by, sending back information about the planet's atmosphere and recording its temperature for the first time. The then-Soviet Union also took an interest in Venus, and beginning in the 1960s sent several probes to the planet.

 

Why go back?

Venus is often referred to as "Earth's Twin" because the planets are similar in size, mass, density, and volume. They're also believed to have formed at around the same time billions of years ago. But there's still a lot we don't know about Venus, and scientists say studying the planet will help them better understand "how Earth evolved and why it's habitable when others in our solar system are not." 

NASA's return to Venus (msn.com)

 

[TheSpaceResident]

DAVINCI+ is a mission that'll investigate the atmosphere of Venus to understand the principles of its formation, make measurements of certain elements in Venus atmosphere. We'll also get some high-resolution photos of planet's surface. The seond mission is VERITAS and it willl study the geological development of Venus and define the differences with the Earth's formation. VERITAS should also identify the infrared emissions from Venus that'll help it study rocks and volcanoes. These two projects are crucial for Venus exploration.

[Montello]

no life on venus 465 c