![]() Artist's concept of DAVINCI's descent stages | |
Names | DAVINCI (2015–2019) DAVINCI+ (2019–2021) DAVINCI (2021–) |
---|---|
Mission type | Orbiter and Atmospheric probe |
Operator | NASA / Goddard Space Flight Center |
Spacecraft properties | |
Spacecraft |
|
Manufacturer | Lockheed Martin /Goddard Space Flight Center |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 2031–2032 (provisional) [1] |
Rocket | Atlas V or equivalent |
End of mission | |
Landing date | 2034 [1] |
Landing site | Alpha Regio [2] |
Venus orbiter | |
Spacecraft component | orbiter |
Orbital insertion | 2034–2035 [2] |
Venus atmospheric probe | |
Spacecraft component | probe |
Atmospheric entry | 2034–2035 [2] |
Instruments | |
| |
DAVINCI (Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases,Chemistry,and Imaging) is a planned mission for an orbiter and atmospheric probe to the planet Venus. Together with the separate VERITAS mission,which will also study Venus,it was selected by NASA on 2 June 2021 to be part of their Discovery Program. [3] [4] [5] Its acronym is inspired by Leonardo da Vinci in honor of his scientific innovations,aerial sketches and constructions.
DAVINCI will send both an orbiter and a descent probe to Venus. [6] The orbiter will image Venus in multiple wavelengths from above,while the descent probe will study the chemical composition of Venus's atmosphere and take photographs during descent. [7] [8] The DAVINCI probe will travel through the Venusian atmosphere,sampling the atmosphere,and returning measurements down to the surface. These measurements are important to understanding the origin of the atmosphere,how it has evolved,and how and why it is different from the atmosphere of Earth and Mars. The measurements taken by DAVINCI will investigate the possible history of water on Venus and the chemical processes at work in the unexplored lower atmosphere. Before it reaches the surface,the DAVINCI probe will capture high-resolution images of the planet's ridged terrain ("tesserae"),returning the first images of the planet's surface since the Soviet Venera 14 lander in 1982. It will also collect data for studying the planet's origin,and its tectonic and weathering history.
DAVINCI was one of the dozens of proposals submitted in 2015 to potentially become Mission #13 of NASA's Discovery Program. NASA's planned budget for Discovery Mission #13 was US$450 million. On September 30,2015,DAVINCI was selected as one of five finalists. [9] On January 4,2017,two competing proposals,Lucy and Psyche,defeated DAVINCI to be selected as the 13th and 14th Discovery missions,respectively. [10]
The DAVINCI proposal was revised and resubmitted under the name "DAVINCI+" for the Discovery Program in 2019, [11] and selected for Phase A funding on February 13,2020. [12] [6] Its Concept Study Report was submitted in November 2020. In June 2021,NASA selected DAVINCI+ as one of the next Discovery class missions. [13] [3] The mission's name was reverted to DAVINCI after selection. [14]
The DAVINCI Principal Investigator is James B. Garvin of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) and the Deputy Principal Investigators are Stephanie Getty and Giada Arney,both also of GSFC. [15]
A separate Venus orbiter mission, VERITAS, was selected at the same time,with the objective of mapping the surface features of Venus with radar to shed light into its history,evaluate this possibility of plate tectonics and volcanism,and understand how the planet developed so differently from Earth. [16]
Following five orbital missions to Venus (Venera 15,Venera 16, Magellan , Venus Express ,and Akatsuki ) focused on remote sensing observations,DAVINCI will be the first probe to enter the atmosphere of Venus since the Soviet Vega probes in 1985, [17] and the first atmospheric probe by NASA since the Pioneer Venus Multiprobe mission in 1978. DAVINCI will make direct measurements in the lower two-thirds of the atmospheric mass.
DAVINCI scientists will explore how Venus's atmosphere formed and then changed over time,including what happened to the water that is thought to have once existed on the planet. The findings will help scientists understand why Venus and Earth took such different paths as they matured, [18] and provide another point of comparison for studies of rocky exoplanets.
DAVINCI'sin situ measurements of the atmosphere will answer multiple questions regarding Venus's atmospheric composition as currently formulated for the National Research Council Planetary Science Decadal Survey's Venus In Situ Explorer (VISE).
The descent probe is not intended to operate once it touches down on the surface of Venus. However,there is a chance it might survive the impact at around 25 miles per hour (12 meters per second). In that case its instruments could continue operation for up to 18 minutes under ideal conditions. [19]
DAVINCI is designed to address high-priority NASA decadal science by targeting noble gases,trace gases,and their isotopes,as well as temperature,pressure,winds,and imaging at Venus.
On the descent probe,DAVINCI's Venus Analytic Laboratory (VAL) instruments will provide high-fidelity synergistic measurements throughout the probe's descent,particularly in the upper clouds and the unexplored near-surface environment. VAL design is based on the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument on the Curiosity rover,which measured the chemical and isotopic composition of the Martian atmosphere,and found the first definitive evidence of organics on Mars. [20] DAVINCI's four science instruments are: [2] [18] [21]
Proposed to be built by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC),VMS will provide the first comprehensive in situ surveys of noble and trace gases at Venus,and has the capability to discover new gas species in the Venusian atmosphere. VMS is similar to Curiosity's quadrupole mass spectrometer (QMS). [22]
Proposed to be built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL),VTLS will provide the first highly sensitive in situ measurements of targeted trace gases and associated isotope ratios at Venus,addressing key science questions about chemical processes in the upper clouds and the near-surface environment. VTLS is similar to Curiosity's tunable laser spectrometer (TLS).
Proposed to be built by GSFC using flight-proven sensors,and led by Ralph Lorenz and Dave Atkinson of the Applied Physics Laboratory and JPL respectively,VASI will provide measurements of the structure and dynamics of the Venusian atmosphere during entry and descent,providing context for chemistry measurements and enabling reconstruction of the probe's descent. [23]
To be built by Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS),VenDI will provide high-contrast images of the tessera terrain at the descent location. VenDI is similar to Curiosity's Mast Camera (Mastcam),Mars Descent Imager (MarDI),and Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI).
On the orbiter,a multi-spectral camera with narrow and wide-angle modes will image the planet in the UV and the 1-micron near-infrared band. The imaging will be done during two Venus flybys before the probe deployment,followed by an orbital remote sensing phase to complement the descent probe. [6] [18]
The Venera program was a series of space probes developed by the Soviet Union between 1961 and 1984 to gather information about the planet Venus.
The Pioneer Venus project was part of the Pioneer program consisting of two spacecraft,the Pioneer Venus Orbiter and the Pioneer Venus Multiprobe,launched to Venus in 1978. The program was managed by NASA's Ames Research Center.
The Discovery Program is a series of Solar System exploration missions funded by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) through its Planetary Missions Program Office. The cost of each mission is capped at a lower level than missions from NASA's New Frontiers or Flagship Programs. As a result,Discovery missions tend to be more focused on a specific scientific goal rather than serving a general purpose.
Venera 9,manufacturer's designation:4V-1 No. 660,was a Soviet uncrewed space mission to Venus. It consisted of an orbiter and a lander. It was launched on June 8,1975,at 02:38:00 UTC and had a mass of 4,936 kilograms (10,882 lb). The orbiter was the first spacecraft to orbit Venus,while the lander was the first to return images from the surface of another planet.
Venera 6,or 2V (V-69) No.331,was a Soviet spacecraft,launched towards Venus to obtain atmospheric data. It had an on-orbit dry mass of 1,130 kg (2,490 lb).
Venera 4,also designated 4V-1 No.310,was a probe in the Soviet Venera program for the exploration of Venus. The probe comprised a lander,designed to enter the Venusian atmosphere and parachute to the surface,and a carrier/flyby spacecraft,which carried the lander to Venus and served as a communications relay for it.
Venera 5 was a space probe in the Soviet space program Venera for the exploration of Venus.
Venera 13 was part of the Soviet Venera program meant to explore Venus.
Venera 14 was a probe in the Soviet Venera program for the exploration of Venus.
Observations of the planet Venus include those in antiquity,telescopic observations,and from visiting spacecraft. Spacecraft have performed various flybys,orbits,and landings on Venus,including balloon probes that floated in the atmosphere of Venus. Study of the planet is aided by its relatively close proximity to the Earth,compared to other planets,but the surface of Venus is obscured by an atmosphere opaque to visible light.
The colonization of Venus has been a subject of many works of science fiction since before the dawn of spaceflight,and is still discussed from both a fictional and a scientific standpoint. However,with the discovery of Venus's extremely hostile surface environment,attention has largely shifted towards the colonization of the Moon and Mars instead,with proposals for Venus focused on habitats floating in the upper-middle atmosphere and on terraforming.
The atmosphere of Venus is the very dense layer of gasses surrounding the planet Venus. Venus's atmosphere is composed of 96.5% carbon dioxide and 3.5% nitrogen,with other chemical compounds present only in trace amounts. It is much denser and hotter than that of Earth;the temperature at the surface is 740 K,and the pressure is 93 bar (1,350 psi),roughly the pressure found 900 m (3,000 ft) under water on Earth. The atmosphere of Venus supports decks of opaque clouds of sulfuric acid that cover the entire planet,preventing optical Earth-based and orbital observation of the surface. Information about surface topography has been obtained exclusively by radar imaging.
Venera-D is a proposed Russian space mission to Venus that would include an orbiter and a lander to be launched in 2029. The orbiter's prime objective is to perform observations with the use of a radar. The lander,based on the Venera design,would be capable of operating for a long duration on the planet's surface. The "D" in Venera-D stands for "dolgozhivuschaya," which means "long lasting" in Russian.
James B. Garvin served as NASA's Chief Scientist from October 2004 to September 2005 and is known for his foundational work in NASA's Mars explorational programs.
Lori Glaze is an American scientist and the director of NASA's Science Mission Directorate's Planetary Science Division. She was a member of the Inner Planets Panel during the most recent Planetary Science Decadal Survey,and has had a role on the Executive Committee of NASA's Venus Exploration Analysis Group (VEXAG) for several years,serving as the group's Chair from 2013–2017.
SPRITE was a proposed Saturn atmospheric probe mission concept of the NASA. SPRITE is a design for an atmospheric entry probe that would travel to Saturn from Earth on its own cruise stage,then enter the atmosphere of Saturn,and descend taking measurements in situ.
Venus Origins Explorer (VOX) is a concept orbiter mission to Venus.
Venus Atmospheric Maneuverable Platform (VAMP) is a mission concept by the aerospace companies Northrop Grumman and LGarde for a powered,long endurance,semi-buoyant inflatable aircraft that would explore the upper atmosphere of planet Venus for biosignatures as well as perform atmospheric measurements. The inflatable aircraft has a trapezoidal shape that is sometimes called delta wing or flying wing,and would have dual electric-driven propellers that would be stowed during atmospheric entry.
EnVision is an orbital mission to Venus being developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) that is planned to perform high-resolution radar mapping and atmospheric studies. EnVision is designed to help scientists understand the relationships between its geological activity and the atmosphere,and it would investigate why Venus and Earth took such different evolutionary paths. The probe was selected as the fifth medium mission (M5) of ESA's Cosmic Vision programme in June 2021,with launch planned for 2031. The mission will be conducted in collaboration with NASA,with the potential sharing of responsibilities currently under assessment.