{"id":12224,"date":"2020-09-14T17:41:05","date_gmt":"2020-09-14T09:41:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/hints-of-life-renew-interest-in-venus-and-a-private-mission-could-lead-the-way\/"},"modified":"2020-09-14T17:41:05","modified_gmt":"2020-09-14T09:41:05","slug":"hints-of-life-renew-interest-in-venus-and-a-private-mission-could-lead-the-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/hints-of-life-renew-interest-in-venus-and-a-private-mission-could-lead-the-way\/","title":{"rendered":"Hints of life renew interest in Venus, and a private mission could lead the way"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_47396\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-47396\" style=\"width: 678px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-47396\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/uvi_20180318_180110_283_365_l2b_v20180601_mod-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"678\" height=\"678\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/uvi_20180318_180110_283_365_l2b_v20180601_mod-1.jpg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/uvi_20180318_180110_283_365_l2b_v20180601_mod-1-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/uvi_20180318_180110_283_365_l2b_v20180601_mod-1-300x300.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 678px) 100vw, 678px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-47396\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A synthesized false color image of Venus, using 283-nm and 365-nm band images taken by the Venus Ultraviolet Imager (UVI) on Japan\u2019s Akatsuki orbiter. Credit: JAXA \/ ISAS \/ Akatsuki Project Team<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The announcement Monday of the discovery of phosphine gas in the clouds of Venus \u2014 an indicator of possible life \u2014 has raised hopes among scientists for new robotic missions to renew exploration of Earth\u2019s planetary neighbor.<\/p>\n<p>If Rocket Lab founder Peter Beck gets his way, a privately-funded mission could get the next crack at probing Venus\u2019s soupy atmosphere. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine also tweeted Monday: \u201cIt\u2019s time to prioritize Venus.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLife on Venus? The discovery of phosphine, a byproduct of anaerobic biology, is the most significant development yet in building the case for life off Earth,\u201d Bridenstine wrote.<\/p>\n<p>Venus is home to a hellish landscape that lies at the bottom of an opaque atmosphere made of carbon dioxide, with&nbsp;scorching surface temperatures as hot as&nbsp;880 degrees Fahrenheit (471 degrees Celsius). Sometimes called Earth\u2019s \u201cevil twin,\u201d it\u2019s the closest world to our own.<\/p>\n<p>At Venus\u2019s scalding surface, the atmosphere is 90 times thicker than Earth\u2019s, similar to the crushing pressure you would find 3,000 feet (900 meters) under the ocean. That doesn\u2019t seem like an environment ripe for life.<\/p>\n<p>But scientists have suggested simple life forms could take refuge high in Venus\u2019s atmosphere, where temperatures and pressures are similar to conditions found at sea level on Earth. Astronomers announced Monday that observations through ground-based telescopes detected phosphine in Venus\u2019s clouds.<\/p>\n<p>Phosphine, made by combining a phosphorus atom with three hydrogen atoms, is only generated on Earth from microbes and industrial activity, scientists said. While a sliver of Venus\u2019s atmosphere has the right temperature and pressure to harbor life, the region strewn with droplets of sulfuric acid and lacks water.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe real challenge is seeing whether any form of life could evolve to adapt to the incredibly acidic environment,\u201d said Jane Greaves, a professor at Cardiff University in the United Kingdom who led the team that discovered the phosphine signature, in an interview with Astronomy Now. \u201cWe just have no analogy (to those conditions) on Earth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Scientists have also struggled to come up with how other types of chemical reactions might produce phosphine at Venus, and the ambiguity led Greaves and her team to conclude the discovery could point to \u201caerial\u201d life forms suspended in the atmosphere.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s one spacecraft currently flying around Venus \u2014 Japan\u2019s Akatsuki orbiter \u2014 but its just the second orbiter sent on a dedicated mission to Venus in 30 years. The European Venus Express mission operated in orbit around the planet from 2006 through 2014.<\/p>\n<p>Both missions have primarily observed the atmosphere of Venus.<\/p>\n<p>The best maps of Venus\u2019s surface were produced by NASA\u2019s Magellan orbiter, which bounced radar beams off the planet to measure its topography \u2014 with coarse resolution by today\u2019s standards \u2014 from 1990 through 1994. And the last landing on Venus occurred in the 1980s.<\/p>\n<p>That could change in the coming years, with several concepts for robotic missions in the running for funding from NASA, the European Space Agency, Russia, and India.<\/p>\n<p>But none are sure to be approved. NASA has bypassed Venus proposals in past mission competitions, favoring robotic explorers destined for asteroids and other planets.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s like being a (Chicago) Cubs fan,\u201d joked Darby Dyar, chair of NASA\u2019s Venus Exploration Analysis Group. \u201cVenus just never wins.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_47399\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-47399\" style=\"width: 900px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-47399\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/508439main_PIA00007_full.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"900\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/508439main_PIA00007_full.jpg 900w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/508439main_PIA00007_full-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/508439main_PIA00007_full-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/508439main_PIA00007_full-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/508439main_PIA00007_full-678x678.jpg 678w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-47399\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">This view of the northern hemisphere of Venus was created using more than a decade of radar investigations culminating in the Magellan mission in the 1990s. The image is centered on the planet\u2019s north pole. The Magellan spacecraft imaged more than 98 percent of the planet Venus. This composite image was processed to improve contrast and to emphasize small features, and was color-coded to represent elevation. Gaps in the elevation data from the Magellan radar altimeter were filled with altimetry from the Venera spacecraft and the Pioneer Venus missions. Credit: NASA\/JPL\/USGS<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Meanwhile, NASA has landed spacecraft on Mars eight times, and the space agency launched the $2.7 billion Perseverance rover toward the Red Planet in July on the first leg of a round-trip mission to return Martian soil to Earth for analysis. Perseverance is the latest step in a series of interconnected missions to Mars, each building upon the discoveries and accomplishments of the one before.<\/p>\n<p>The Mars landers have found that the Red Planet was habitable billions of years ago, with running water and other ingredients necessary for microbial life. So far, there\u2019s no sign of extant life on Mars.<\/p>\n<p>Like Mars, Venus has followed an arc of changing climate that stripped away the ocean of liquid water scientists believe once existed there. But instead of getting colder like Mars, Venus was enveloped in a shroud of carbon dioxide that drove a runaway greenhouse effect, pushing temperatures to extremes not found on any other planet in the solar system.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>\u2018We have better topographic data for Pluto than we do for Venus\u2019<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think it\u2019s time for NASA to start laying the foundation for a program at a different planet,\u201d said Dyar,&nbsp;a planetary geologist and professor of astronomy at&nbsp;Mount Holyoke College.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe knowledge gap is huge,\u201d she said. \u201cI always start out by saying that we have better topographic data for Pluto than we do for Venus. Imagine if we had a topographic map of Earth, and the resolution was in kilometers instead of centimeters. So we don\u2019t know the topography. We don\u2019t know the rock type.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t know the actual surface age very well,\u201d Dyar said, highlighting uncertainties about whether Venus harbors active volcanoes. \u201cVenus has a shortage of surface craters, but whether the surface is 150,000 years old or a billion years old, we don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo there\u2019s just an enormous amount of information that we are lacking on Venus, and it\u2019s shameful because Venus is the only other planet in our solar system that had liquid water for over a billion years,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Dyar said Earth\u2019s neighbor toward the sun should be a priority for exploration \u201cbecause of the lines of evidence \u2014 the phosphine discovery being front and center \u2014 about the habitability of Venus.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI&nbsp;think Venus has got a bit of a tough rap,\u201d said Beck, Rocket Lab\u2019s founder and CEO, in a Sept. 3 press conference.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s a sentiment echoed by Dyar on Monday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI find it incongruous that we\u2019ve spent so much time on a Mars program when the planet that actually had liquid water for a long time has been relatively unexplored,\u201d Dyar told Spaceflight Now.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNASA has had an emphasis on following the water and following life,\u201d Dyar said. \u201cThose were the slogans for the Mars program for a long time. At Venus, following water and following life requires multiple kinds of missions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Beck said he supports exploring Mars, but he finds Venus more intriguing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVenus is Earth gone wrong, and I think there\u2019s a tremendous amount to learn from Venus, especially as we face more and more issues with climate change and trying to understand that,\u201d Beck said. \u201cFrom a scientific standpoint there\u2019s just an incredible wealth of discovery there.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_30139\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-30139\" style=\"width: 900px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-30139\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Peter-Beck-with-Humanity-Star.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"601\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Peter-Beck-with-Humanity-Star.jpg 900w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Peter-Beck-with-Humanity-Star-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Peter-Beck-with-Humanity-Star-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Peter-Beck-with-Humanity-Star-678x453.jpg 678w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-30139\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rocket Lab founder and CEO Peter Beck. Credit: Rocket Lab<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Speaking before Monday\u2019s announcement on the detection of phosphine, Beck identified the clouds of Venus as a particularly interesting target for research.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor me, it\u2019s like the ultimate treasure hunt,\u201d Beck said. \u201cWithin a sweet zone of the Venusian atmosphere, sort of a 50-kilometer zone, the atmosphere is relatively temperate and \u2014 at least in theory \u2014 could harbor life. It might not be the life that we\u2019re familiar with today \u2026 Really, this is a huge passion. It has been for a long time, and what bigger question is there to answer than how significant or unique life is.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Putting together a private mission to Venus<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>The mission Beck is planning would send an entry probe in the atmosphere of Venus. It wouldn\u2019t answer all the questions scientists have about Venus, but could open doors to new ways of exploring the solar system, Beck said.<\/p>\n<p>With its light-class Electron rocket and Photon spacecraft platform, Rocket Lab could deliver nearly 60 pounds \u2014 about 27 kilograms \u2014 of useful payloads to Venus, according to Beck.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt might not sound a lot, but 27 kilograms is a lot of radio. That\u2019s a lot of science instrument,\u201d Beck said. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot of really good stuff. So we can do some pretty incredible things with that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A fully loaded Photon spacecraft weighs a little more than 300 kilograms, or 660 pounds, when it launches on an interplanetary mission, Beck said. Most of that is propellant and on-board systems needed to carry the science payload.<\/p>\n<p>The Photon is about twice the size of a standard American kitchen dishwasher. The mission concept supported by Rocket Lab would release an atmospheric entry vehicle at Venus, while the Photon mothership sails by the planet.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe mere fact of trying is a great success,\u201d Beck said. \u201cGetting to Venus if a great success. If we can get a probe into the atmosphere, that\u2019s an incredible success. The chances of us finding something that resembles life is incredibly low, but you can\u2019t win the lottery if you don\u2019t buy a ticket.<\/p>\n<p>If Beck\u2019s plans come to fruition, the private mission could be the next spacecraft to reach Venus. In a recent interview with Spaceflight Now, he said Rocket Lab is committed to the mission and plans to launch it by 2023.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo lay some certainty around it, this is not a brainstorm,\u201d he told Spaceflight Now. \u201cSo this&nbsp;is is not, let\u2019s see if we can try and do it. We\u2019re going to Venus. There are no ifs, buts, or maybes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rocket Lab, a U.S. based company, launched its first Photon spacecraft into low Earth orbit Aug. 30 on a demonstration mission. Rocket Lab developed the Photon platform to accommodate a range of space sensors to support Earth-imaging, communications, and scientific missions for military, research and commercial use.<\/p>\n<p>The Photon is based on Rocket Lab\u2019s Curie kick stage, which flies on top of the company\u2019s two-stage Electron small satellite launcher. Fitted with solar arrays, an engine, and other systems for long-duration flight in space, the Photon craft took off on top of an Electron rocket Aug. 30 from Rocket Lab\u2019s launch site in New Zealand.<\/p>\n<p>The rocket deployed a small commercial radar remote sensing satellite for Capella Space, then the Photon spacecraft \u2014 which acted as the kick stage on Aug. 30 mission \u2014 began its own in-orbit experiments. Rocket Lab announced the milestone Sept. 3, and did not disclose the Photon\u2019s presence on the mission before launch.<\/p>\n<p>Rocket Lab says the Photon will allow the company to be a one-stop shop for space missions, providing the launch vehicle and spacecraft platform to customers in an all-in-one package. Clients will only need to supply an instrument, sensor or payload to mount on the Photon spacecraft, according to Beck.<\/p>\n<p>An upgraded Photon spacecraft with a more capable propulsion system will fly a NASA payload to orbit the moon next year, and the same system could be tailored for more distant destinations with few changes.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s no name yet for Rocket Lab\u2019s Venus mission \u2014 Beck said he hasn\u2019t thought about that at all \u2014 but engineers designed the Photon spacecraft with interplanetary voyages in mind.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have the ability to get there,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re building a really fantastic science team, and we have a way to sample the atmosphere.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Beck emphasized his desire to fund the Venus mission through private sources.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf I\u2019m going, I\u2019m going to Venus privately,\u201d he said. \u201cI think it\u2019s super important for (it to be) a private mission because just the mere fact of trying to do it raises the bar. A private mission to another planet is something that\u2019s never been done before, or attempted before, and I think that once&nbsp;you show that can be done, that leads the way for a bunch more missions in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Beck said the private space industry can make \u201chuge advances\u201d in exploration, similar to the way private funding helped pay for the first large astronomical telescopes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTypically, these things have always required governments, and I think it\u2019s a real turning point in space if private missions can occur to other planetary bodies,\u201d Beck said.<\/p>\n<p>While he declined to disclose possible teaming arrangements with other companies and scientific institutions, Beck said Rocket Lab is working with \u201cthe best of the industry\u201d on the Venus mission.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re trying&nbsp;to pull together a team of some of the best in the field because one of the biggest challenges here is deciding what instrument we\u2019re going to fly,\u201d Beck said. \u201cYou have to make some assumptions about what you might find there to be able to design the instrument.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sara Seager, an astronomer and planetary scientist on the team that made the phosphine discovery, said Monday she is looking forward to partnering with Rocket Lab on a Venus mission.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have been talking to them,\u201d Seager said Monday.<\/p>\n<p>Seager discussed different numbers than those provided by Beck.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRocket Lab\u2019s spacecraft would only be about 15 kilograms (33 pounds), and they would reserve about 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds) or so for payload,\u201d Seager said. \u201cSo we have to work hard to make sure an instrument that would be useful for the search for life would fit into that payload, and we\u2019re really looking forward to it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>NASA\u2019s contract with Rocket Lab for the launch and delivery of a compact satellite to lunar orbit next year is valued at $10 million, more than an order of magnitude less than the cost of other U.S. probes sent to the moon. The cost savings are largely driven by the miniaturization of spacecraft technology, such as instrumentation and radios for deep space missions, along with Rocket Lab\u2019s commercial launch service.<\/p>\n<p>Going to Venus may cost somewhat more than $10 million, but Beck said the figure gives a \u201csense what you can do with such a small amount of money.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s the thing that excites me the most, really,\u201d Beck said. \u201cFor a pretty small amount of money, comparatively speaking, you can go do a mission like that for NASA to the moon, or go further on.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said a \u201cnumber of interests\u201d will fund the Venus mission, including wealthy benefactors, Rocket Lab\u2019s own resources, and Beck himself.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo between us all, we\u2019ll be able to get there,\u201d Beck said. \u201cWhat I\u2019d really love to do is not one mission, but three missions. So if anybody wants to join the team, we\u2019d love to hear from them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRight now, we can get one mission, but I\u2019d really love to do another couple of missions because that really gives us the ability to learn much more and have meaningful cracks at it.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_47398\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-47398\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-47398\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/EXIoYSHUEAADnlZ.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"705\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/EXIoYSHUEAADnlZ.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/EXIoYSHUEAADnlZ-300x176.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/EXIoYSHUEAADnlZ-768x451.jpg 768w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/EXIoYSHUEAADnlZ-678x398.jpg 678w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-47398\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Artist\u2019s illustration of Rocket Lab\u2019s Photon satellite bus. Credit: Rocket Lab<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Rocket Lab have the mission ready for launch in early 2023. \u201cThe spacecraft design is largely complete with the lunar mission,\u201d Beck said. \u201cWe\u2019ll be moving pretty quickly into starting to build some hardware.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A private mission run by Rocket Lab would be an appetizer for scientists with a hunger for fresh data on Venus.<\/p>\n<p><b><i>Scientists see opportunity for Venus to grab spotlight in planetary science<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p>Just like at Mars, scientists need a fleet of orbiters and landers to build up a better understanding of Venus and its history, Dyar said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd then it requires things in between that can understand the structure of the atmosphere,\u201d she continued.&nbsp;\u201cWe don\u2019t know much about the lower atmosphere below about 30 kilometers (18 miles).\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019d like to see really any kind of mission go back to Venus, something that\u2019s capable of measuring gases in the atmosphere,\u201d Seager said. \u201cSomething that has a so-called mass spectrometer that can identify larger complex molecules that can only be associated with life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re really hoping somebody, maybe in the private space industry \u2026 might take this up,\u201d Greaves said Monday.<\/p>\n<p>Addressing the most daunting questions about Venus will require a substantial financial commitment, likely in the form a multibillion-dollar \u201cflagship\u201d mission, Dyar said. NASA typically builds and launches one or two robotic interplanetary flagship missions per decade.<\/p>\n<p>NASA will try to launch three flagship solar system missions in the 2020s. One was the Perseverance Mars rover, and the next will be a sophisticated spacecraft to orbit Jupiter and perform repeated flybys of the icy moon Europa. The third could be a joint mission by NASA and the European Space Agency to retrieve the Martian samples gathered by the Perseverance rover for return to Earth.<\/p>\n<p>That means the following flagship mission probably won\u2019t launch until the 2030s.<\/p>\n<p>An independent panel of scientists will release a report in 2022 with priorities for the next decade of solar system exploration, beyond the Europa Clipper and Mars Sample Return missions. Within budgetary limitations, NASA\u2019s policy is to follow the science community\u2019s recommendations.<\/p>\n<p>A flagship mission to Venus might include an orbiter, a long-life lander, and a balloon that could float among the Venusian clouds. Such a project might be able to tackle many objectives at once, such as studying Venus\u2019s geology and directly sampling Venus\u2019s atmosphere.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA balloon is certainly the best way,\u201d Seager said.<\/p>\n<p>The Soviet Union\u2019s Vega missions floated balloons in the atmosphere of Venus. Similar balloons today could carry a much more moden set of instruments.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s the kind of thing we\u2019d like to see happen again,\u201d Seager said. \u201cPerhaps a super version of those (Vega balloons) that instead of lasting a couple of days, could last a week, months, even a couple of years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A Venus flagship will be in stiff competition to receive the top ranking from the decadal survey.<\/p>\n<p>The decadal survey scientists will weigh a Venus mission against flagship concepts to land on Mercury, drive more than 1,000 miles across the moon, deploy a network of geophysics stations on the lunar surface, or dispatch multiple orbiters to Mars to map underground ice and collect global climate data.<\/p>\n<p>Other decadal survey flagship candidates with detailed concept studies commissioned by NASA include a mission that would return samples to Earth from the icy dwarf planet Ceres, a spacecraft to orbit and land on the frozen shell of Saturn\u2019s moon Enceladus, an orbiter and atmospheric probe to Neptune and its moon Triton, and a mission to orbit Pluto.<\/p>\n<p>If Venus doesn\u2019t come out near the top of the decadal survey\u2019s ranking, the world\u2019s space agencies are considering smaller-scale Venus missions in ongoing competitions for funding.<\/p>\n<p>NASA last year selected four proposals from scientists for the next mission in the agency\u2019s Discovery program, a line of cost-capped robotic interplanetary probes. Two of the missions would go to Venus, and two other concepts would travel to Neptune\u2019s moon Triton and Jupiter\u2019s volcanic moon Io.<\/p>\n<p>After reviewing the mission proposals on their scientific merit, technical readiness and cost, NASA plans to select one or two next April for full development ahead of launch opportunities in 2026.<\/p>\n<p>The proposed Venus missions under consideration by NASA are named VERITAS and DAVINCI+. Those names are short for&nbsp;Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy, and&nbsp;Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging Plus.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_47397\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-47397\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-47397\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/DA_EC_2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/DA_EC_2.jpg 800w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/DA_EC_2-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/DA_EC_2-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/DA_EC_2-678x1017.jpg 678w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-47397\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Artist\u2019s concept of an entry probe like the one being designed for NASA\u2019s proposed DAVINCI+ mission. Credit: NASA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>NASA has not launched a mission to Venus since 1989, when the Magellan radar mapper set off from Earth to peer beneath Venus\u2019s thick clouds and map the planet\u2019s volcanic landscape.<\/p>\n<p>The last U.S.-led mission to send a probe into the atmosphere of Venus was Pioneer Venus in 1978. The Soviet Union\u2019s Vega missions were the last to plunge deep into Venus\u2019s atmosphere in 1985.<\/p>\n<p>The DAVINCI+ mission would send a descent probe into the atmosphere of Venus to precisely measure its composition down to the surface, according to NASA. The mission would help scientists understand how the atmosphere formed and evolved, and accumulate more information about the history of water at Venus.<\/p>\n<p>A hardened \u201csphere\u201d will carry the instruments to the surface of Venus, measuring atmospheric composition and conditions at various altitudes throughout a gradual hour-long descent. Cameras on the descent sphere and an orbiter component to the mission will map surface rock types, according to NASA.<\/p>\n<p>The VERITAS mission would&nbsp;carry a synthetic aperture radar instrument on an orbiting spacecraft to survey nearly the entire surface of the Venus, according to NASA. The VERITAS orbiter would collect data on the types of rock that make up Venus\u2019s crust, and like DAVINCI+, would pursue signs of ancient water on the planet.<\/p>\n<p>If selected by NASA, the DAVINCI+ and VERITAS missions would have to each fit under&nbsp;a $500 million cost cap, excluding launch expenses and international contributions.<\/p>\n<p>The European Space Agency is also weighing a selection of its next medium-class, cost-capped science mission. One of the European finalists, named EnVision, is a proposed orbiter that would launch to Venus in 2032 with similar objectives as VERITAS \u2014 to map the planet in unprecedented detail with radar.<\/p>\n<p>EnVision would come with a cost limit to ESA of 550 million euros, or around $650 million. Science instruments provided by other space agencies do not count against the cost cap.<\/p>\n<p>Russia\u2019s Venera-D mission is in the early stages of development. Venera-D would consist of an orbiter and a lander, with a launch no earlier than the late 2020s.&nbsp;The Russian mission would build on the Soviet Union\u2019s Venera probes, which made the first soft landings on Venus.<\/p>\n<p>India\u2019s space agency also also proposed a Venus orbiter that could launch as soon as 2023 with instruments focusing on studying the planet\u2019s hazy atmosphere. Like the NASA and European concepts, the Indian mission is awaiting final approval before proceeding into development.<\/p>\n<p><b><i>Email the author.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A synthesized false color image of Venus, using 283-nm and 365-nm band images taken by the Venus Ultraviolet Imager (UVI) on Japan\u2019s Akatsuki orbiter. Credit: JAXA \/ ISAS \/ Akatsuki Project Team The announcement Monday of the discovery of phosphine gas in the clouds of Venus \u2014 an indicator of possible life \u2014 has raised [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[291,2075,2076,545,2077,831,301,2078],"class_list":["post-12224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-commercial-space","tag-davinci","tag-decadal-survey","tag-electron","tag-envision","tag-european-space-agency","tag-india","tag-magellan"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12224"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12224"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12224\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}