Projects
DAVINCI
NASA’s DAVINCI mission will study the origin, evolution, and present state of Venus in unprecedented detail from near the top of the clouds to the planet’s surface. The mission’s goal is to help answer longstanding questions about our neighboring planet, especially whether Venus was ever wet and habitable like Earth.
Named after visionary Renaissance artist and scientist Leonardo da Vinci, the DAVINCI mission Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging is scheduled to launch in the late 2020s.
Carrying an atmospheric descent probe, the DAVINCI spacecraft will serve as a telecommunications hub by relaying information from the probe to Earth. It will also use its two onboard instruments to study Venusian clouds and map its highland areas as it flies by the planet.
During two gravity assist flybys, DAVINCI will study the cloud tops in ultraviolet light. Both flybys will also examine heat emanating from the Venus surface on the planet's night side.We will look for geological clues of this planet's mysterious past to paint a global picture of surface composition and the evolution of the planet's ancient highlands.
