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Things are finally looking up for NASA's first missions to Venus in a generation
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NASA is preparing a long-awaited return to Venus. DAVINCI will launch in December 2030, a year earlier than planned, sending a probe through the planet's atmosphere. VERITAS will follow in November 2032 to map the surface by radar. The updates came at last week's Venus Exploration Analysis Group meeting.
DAVINCI stands for Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging. Its probe should return the first direct images of Venus's surface since 1982. The European Space Agency's Envision orbiter is also planned for 2032. A privately funded Rocket Lab probe could launch as soon as late 2027.
The path has not been smooth. Budget cuts imperiled one U.S. mission and delayed the other. NASA also withdrew from a partnership to supply a key part for Envision. Still, scientists at the VEXAG meeting struck an optimistic tone. "We have some good news for Venus," said Jim Garvin, DAVINCI's principal investigator.
Venus has long been overshadowed by Mars and other targets. Yet it is closer to Earth than any other planet and roughly Earth-sized. It may have had a climate similar to Earth's. Today it has a nearly pure carbon dioxide atmosphere, toxic sulfuric acid clouds, and surface temperatures around 872°F (467°C).
Landing on Venus remains difficult. Surface pressure is 93 times that at Earth's sea level, equal to about 3,000 feet beneath the ocean. NASA's last Venus mission, Magellan, launched in 1989 and ended in 1994. It mapped the planet through opaque clouds but only at football-field resolution. Scientists still do not know what triggered Venus's runaway greenhouse effect.
The combined missions could transform understanding of how Venus became inhospitable. They may also offer clues about climate evolution on Earth-like worlds. If Rocket Lab's probe launches first, it could search for organic material in Venus's high-altitude clouds. The Venus armada is finally looking up.
