When announcing two new missions to Venus in 2021, NASA assumed that Venus used to be like Earth, but now it's turned into doom. This mission aims to study how Earth's neighboring planet has turned into a hellish state while our own planet is evolving.
"The two brothers' missions are both aimed at understanding how Venus became a hellish world, capable of melting lead on its surface," said NASA administrator Bill Nelson, quoted from the IB Times, Wednesday (8/6/2022).
"These two missions offer the entire scientific community an opportunity to investigate a planet we haven't visited in more than 30 years," he continued, adding that both missions are scheduled to launch to Venus in 2028-2030.
One of the missions, called DAVINCI+ (Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging) will gather more details about the composition of Venus' atmosphere, especially carbon dioxide, to study how it formed and evolved. Scientists also commissioned the DAVINCI+ mission to determine whether the planet once had an ocean or not.
Another mission, called VERITAS (an acronym for Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy), is tasked with mapping the surface of Venus from orbit and studying the planet's geological history.
Using the radar shapes used to create three-dimensional constructions, VERITAS will map the elevation of the surface and confirm whether volcanoes and earthquakes still occur on the planet.
Separately, apart from NASA, the German Aerospace Center will provide infrared mapping, and the Italian Space Agency and France's Center National d'Etudes Spatiales will contribute to the radar and other parts of the mission.
"It's surprising how little we know about Venus, but the combined results of this mission will reveal a wealth of information about the planet from the clouds in its sky, through the volcanoes on its surface, to its core. It will be as if we have rediscovered the planet. this," said Tom Wagner, NASA's Discovery program scientist.
To note, NASA's last Venus orbiter was Magellan which arrived in 1990. Since then, many other spacecraft have flown past it. DAVINCI+ and VERITAS will be the latest, most advanced missions to explore more about Venus.