Get ready for an exciting journey to our mysterious neighbor, Venus! This planet, often referred to as Earth's 'evil twin', has captured the attention of space enthusiasts and scientists alike. Despite recently losing its last active spacecraft, Akatsuki, Venus is set to welcome a new wave of exploration in the coming years. Here's a glimpse into the future of Venus missions, each with its own unique goals and potential to unravel the planet's secrets.
Unveiling the Secrets of Venus: 5 Upcoming Missions
But here's where it gets controversial... some of these missions might not even happen due to budget cuts! Let's dive into the details and explore what could be in store for Venus exploration.
- NASA's DAVINCI Mission: A $500 million endeavor, DAVINCI is planned as a dual-purpose mission with an orbiter and a descent probe. The orbiter will study Venus' clouds and mountains during flybys, while the descent probe will brave the planet's harsh atmosphere, collecting data on its composition and taking images of the surface. This mission aims to uncover traces of an ancient water cycle on Venus, focusing on the Alpha Regio region, one of the oldest surfaces on the planet.
However, there's a catch! DAVINCI is on the list of canceled missions in the proposed Trump administration's 2026 NASA budget. Will it see the light of day, or will it remain a dream?
- NASA's VERITAS Mission: Scheduled for launch no earlier than 2031, VERITAS aims to understand why Venus and Earth, similar in size, took such different paths in their planetary evolution. The mission will investigate how Venus lost its oceans and magnetic field and how plate tectonics shaped its terrain. VERITAS is based on the successful MAVEN spacecraft orbiting Mars since 2014.
But here's the twist: VERITAS, too, is at risk of cancellation if the proposed budget cuts come into effect.
- European Space Agency's Envision Mission: Led by ESA, Envision is set to launch in November 2023, with support from NASA's Deep Space Network. This €610 million mission will focus on the origins of habitability in the solar system, exploring Venus' past climate, which may have resembled Earth's for billions of years.
The mission will use an orbiter equipped with various instruments to study Venus from its subsurface to its upper atmosphere, providing insights into its history, current climate, and activity.
- Rocket Lab's Venus Life Finder: This private mission, a collaboration between Rocket Lab and MIT, aims to search for the building blocks of life in Venus' cloud layers. The mission will use Rocket Lab's Electron rocket and Photon spacecraft to orbit Venus and collect data on organic compounds.
The probe is designed to fall into Venus' atmosphere, focusing on altitudes similar to Earth's conditions, where phosphine has been suggested to exist.
- Indian Space Research Organisation's Venus Orbiter Mission (Shukrayaan): India plans to send its first mission to Venus no earlier than 2028, following successful lunar and Martian missions. The Venus Orbiter Mission, nicknamed Shukrayaan, will study Venus' surface, atmosphere, and solar interactions, and test aerobraking in its atmosphere.
Some of the mission's objectives include high-resolution mapping, examining dust and airglow in the atmosphere, and studying the X-ray spectrum of solar rays near the planet.
And this is the part most people miss... Venus, with its thick carbon dioxide atmosphere, high-pressure surface, and active ionosphere influenced by the solar wind, offers a unique environment for scientific exploration. These missions, if successful, could provide invaluable insights into the evolution of planets and the potential for life beyond Earth.
So, which mission are you most excited about? And what do you think about the potential budget cuts? Share your thoughts in the comments below! The future of Venus exploration is in our hands!
