NASA to launch 2 missions DAVINCI+ and VERITAS to study lost habitable world of Venus
NASA has chosen two new missions to explore Venus, DAVINCI+ and VERITAS, in order to learn more about how Earth s nearest planetary neighbour evolved into an inferno-like world. Each is scheduled to debut between 2028 and 2030.
By IANS
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NASA has selected two new missions to study Venus to understand how Earths nearest planetary neighbour became an inferno-like world when it may have been the first habitable world in the solar system, complete with an ocean and Earth-like climate.
The two missions were selected, based on their potential scientific value and the feasibility of their development plans, from four mission concepts that NASA picked in February 2020 as part of the agency s Discovery 2019 competition.
NASA mission: Why is Venus hotter than mercury? And how long does it take to get there? Photo by MPI/Getty Images
NASA have announced two new missions to Venus which are due to launch within the 2028 and 2030 timeframe.
According to NASA, “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.”
Tom Wagner, NASA’s Discovery Program scientist said: “It is astounding how little we know about Venus, but the combined results of these missions will tell us about the planet from the clouds in its sky through the volcanoes on its surface all the way down to its very core.”
Two new missions to Venus DAVINCI+ and VERITAS have been selected by NASA. These missions will shed light on how Venus became the inhospitable world it is today, despite the fact that it shares many characteristics with Earth.
Lord knows we’re all in need of another habitable planet at the pace things are going, which also explains our ever-growing interest in Mars. Venus could’ve been another great place to call home since it’s so close to us and shares so many common characteristics with Earth, but we all know it’s not being very neighborly. And NASA is trying to figure out why that is, with two new missions meant to shed some light on the planet’s infernal conditions.
NASA Selects 2 New Missions to Venus
Both missions will help us understand how Venus became an inferno-like world. By Matthew Humphries
(Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
NASA s Discovery Program offers scientists and engineers a chance to design their own planetary science missions and potentially have them funded by the space agency. Two such missions have just been selected, and they both involve a trip to the hottest planet in our solar system: Venus.
The characteristics of Venus suggest that it may have been the first habitable world in the solar system at one point in the distant past, but then it became an inferno. We d all like to know why, and NASA is awarding approximately $500 million in development funding to two projects that may help answer that question. They are called DAVINCI+ and VERITAS.