NASA’s new missions to the “Hell world” Here’s what you need to know.
By: Raksita Rajagopal
Tags: Mission, NASA, Venus, Space Exploration, Astrophysics

With the success of Perseverance and Ingenuity, Nasa has taken the next step to explore the solar system.

Nasa is going to the “Lost Habitable” Planet, Venus.

This image is a composite of data from NASA’s Magellan spacecraft and Pioneer Venus Orbiter. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA has selected two missions to explore Earth’s nearest planetary neighbor, Venus. This is a part of Nasa’s “Discovery” program; the mission aims to understand how Venus became like the present “hell” planet while it is much similar to our planet, Earth — and it may have been the first habitable planet in our solar system with oceans and earth-like climate.

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

The selected missions are:

A) Davinci +

B) Veritas

DAVINCI+ (Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging)

DAVINCI+ Structure. Credits: NASA Goddard

DAVINCI+ will measure the composition of Venus’ atmosphere to understand how it formed and evolved and determine whether the planet ever had an ocean. The mission consists of a descent sphere that will plunge through the planet’s thick atmosphere, making precise measurements of noble gases and other elements to understand why Venus’ atmosphere is a runaway hothouse compared to the Earth’s.

This probe will measure the geographic structure of the venus and share back high-quality images. In addition, this will study Venus's atmospheric conditions while descending.

DAVINCI+ will return the first high-resolution pictures of the unique geological features on Venus known as “tesserae,” which may be comparable to Earth’s continents, suggesting that Venus has plate tectonics. In addition, DAVINCI+ will host the Compact Ultraviolet to Visible Imaging Spectrometer (CUVIS) built by Goddard. CUVIS will make high-resolution measurements of ultraviolet light using a new instrument based on freeform optics. These observations will be used to determine the nature of the unknown ultraviolet absorber in Venus’ atmosphere that absorbs up to half the incoming solar energy.

DAVINCI+ could reshape our perception of terrestrial planet formation in our solar system and beyond.

James Garvin of Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, is the principal investigator. Goddard provides project management.

During its 63-minute descent, DAVINCI+ will collect and return measurements of Venus’ atmospheric composition. Credit: NASA

VERITAS (Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy)

VERITAS will map Venus’ surface to determine its geologic history and understand why it developed so differently from Earth. Orbiting Venus with a synthetic aperture radar, VERITAS will chart surface elevations over nearly the entire planet to create 3D reconstructions of topography and confirm whether processes such as plate tectonics and volcanism are still active on Venus.

VERITAS also will map infrared emissions from Venus’ surface to map its rock type, which is largely unknown, and determine whether active volcanoes are releasing water vapor into the atmosphere. In addition, VERITAS will host the Deep Space Atomic Clock-2, built by JPL and funded by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate. The ultra-precise clock signal generated with this technology will ultimately help enable autonomous spacecraft maneuvers and enhance radio science observations. Producing high-resolution 3D topographic maps VERITAS would bring into focus structures that have previously been too small to resolve, added Stock. These structures could include raised topography on both sides of strike-slip faults, like the San Andreas Fault, an indicator of major tectonic activity. VERITAS would also look for active surface faulting using something called interferometric deformation maps for the first time beyond Earth.

An artist's conception of VERITAS near Venus atmosphere. By NASA/JPL-Caltech — http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4727 (image link), Public Domain

VERITAS would produce global, high-resolution topography and imaging of Venus’ surface and produce the first maps of deformation and global surface composition, thermal emissivity, and gravity field. The spacecraft are two scientific instruments, the Venus Emissivity Mapper (VEM) and Venus Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (VISAR).

VEM (Venus Emissivity Mapper) would map surface emissivity using six spectral bands in five atmospheric windows that see through the clouds. It would be provided by the German Aerospace Center (DLR).VEM also carries eight atmospheric bands for calibration and detection of near-surface water vapor.

(Venus Emissivity Mapper) would map surface emissivity using six spectral bands in five atmospheric windows that see through the clouds. It would be provided by the German Aerospace Center (DLR).VEM also carries eight atmospheric bands for calibration and detection of near-surface water vapor. VISAR (Venus Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar) would generate global data sets for topography (250 m horizontal by 5 m vertical accuracy). And SAR imaging at 30 m resolution with targeted resolution at 15 m. In addition, it will create the first planetary active surface deformation map (1.5 cm vertical).