Earlier this month, we had the pleasure of hosting the State of NASA stream where NASA Administrator Bill Nelson announced the selection of two Discovery-class missions to Venus. The first, DAVINCI+, will have a descent sphere that plunges through the atmosphere and measures the composition. It will also take high-resolution pictures of the surface to determine if Venus had plate tectonics and/or an ocean. The second mission is VERITAS, which is an orbiter that will map out the surface geology using synthetic aperture radar and determine the rock types with infrared instruments.

Then, in a surprise twist, last week, the European Space Agency announced the selection of their fifth Medium-class mission, EnVision, which is going to Venus as well. Also an orbiter, EnVision intends to gather data about everything from the inner core to the upper atmosphere of our harsh sister planet. All of these missions will help us gain an understanding of just how Venus formed and evolved and why it did so differently than Earth.

More Information

NASA JPL press release

ESA press release

Return to Hell: NASA Selects Two Missions to Venus to Explore the Pathway to Habitability (Many Worlds)

And Then There Were Three: ESA Follows NASA in Selecting a Mission to Venus (Many Worlds)