JAKARTA – NASA has prepared two of their missions, DAVINCI+ and VERITAS to understand how the climate conditions of Planet Venus can turn into “hell” despite having many characteristics in common with Earth.
“We’re reinvigorating our planetary science program with intense exploration of a world that NASA hasn’t visited in more than 30 years,” said Associate Administrator for NASA Science Thomas Zurbuchen in a press release.
The United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration chose the Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging (DAVINCI+) mission, which will measure the composition of Venus’ atmosphere to understand how it formed and evolved, and determine whether the planet ever had an ocean. .
In addition, they will also carry out the Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography and Spectroscopy (VERITAS) missions, which will map the surface of Venus to determine the planet’s geological history and understand why it formed so differently from Earth.
NASA provides approximately 500 million dollars for the development of each of these missions. Each is expected to be launched in the 2022-2030 timeframe.
Zurbuchen said they use state-of-the-art technology that NASA has developed and perfected over the years in technology missions and programs to understand how the Earth-like planet is now a “greenhouse.”
The mission is to understand not only the evolution of planets and their habitability in the Solar System, but beyond the boundaries of the exoplanet, an exciting and emerging research arena for NASA.
NASA’s Discovery Program scientist Tom Wagner said it was surprising how little we knew about Venus, but the combined results of the missions would tell us about the planet from the clouds in its sky to the volcanoes on the surface to the planet’s core.
“It would be like we rediscovered the planet,” said Wagner.
-News Source: Antara
