The spacecraft is expected to explore the layers of Venus’ atmosphere and reach its surface in June 2031. The DAVINCI mission will be able to capture data about Venus that scientists have been measuring since the early 1980s.
The DAVINCI spacecraft will primarily serve as a flying chemistry laboratory that can measure various aspects of Venus’ atmosphere and climate and capture the first images of the planet’s high altitude landings. The mission’s instruments will also be able to map the surface of Venus and find the composition of Venus’s mountain-like elevations.
These features, called “tesserae,” may be similar to Earth’s continents, meaning Venus may have plate tectonics, according to NASA scientists.
“This collection of chemical, ecological, and lineage imaging data will paint a picture of Venus’ atmospheric layers and how they interact with the surface in the Alpha Reggio Mountains, which are twice the size of Texas,” said Jim Garvin, Director of DAVINCI. An investigator from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, said in a statement.
“These measurements will allow us to assess aspects of atmospheric history as well as detect special rock types on the surface such as granite while also looking for landscape features that could tell us about erosion or other formative processes.”
The initiative will also investigate the possibility of oceans in Venus’ past by measuring the gas and water components in the deepest parts of the atmosphere. Venus may have been the first habitable world in our solar system, with oceans and an Earth-like climate – but something happened that turned it into a planet with temperatures high enough to melt lead.
–
–
Today, Venus is a largely dead planet with a toxic atmosphere 90 times thicker than our home planet and a surface temperature of 864 degrees Fahrenheit (462 degrees Celsius).
––
–
Since DAVINCI has flown close to Venus several times, it will use two tools to study the clouds and map the altitude from orbit. Next, the lander carrying five instruments will fall to the surface.
The descent will take about an hour and a heat shield will be used to protect the probe to about 42 miles (67 kilometers) above the surface. Next, he would scrape the shield to sample and analyze atmospheric gases. The lander will also take hundreds of images after scanning Venus’ clouds 100,000 feet (30,500 meters) above the surface.
“The probe will reach the mountains of the Alpha Region, but will not need to operate after landing, as all necessary scientific data will be retrieved before it reaches the surface,” said Stephanie Getty, deputy principal investigator with Goddard. statement. “If we survive a landing at around 25 mph (11 m/sec), we can perform up to 17-18 minutes of surface operations under ideal conditions.”
–
–
“Pop culture specialist. Faithful foodie. Friendly music practitioner. Proud twitter fan. Social media freak. Travel nerds.”
—-
–
