NASA will launch 2 new missions to Venus by 2030 to return to Earth's hellish twin

After decades without a NASA mission, it's Venus' time to shine.

Nasa has announced that it is sending two new missions to Venus in order to examine the planet's atmosphere and geological features.

The missions, which have each been awarded $500m (£352m) in funding, are due to launch between 2028 and 2030.

Nasa administrator Bill Nelson said the missions would offer the "chance to investigate a planet we haven't been to in more than 30 years".

The last US probe to visit the planet was the Magellan orbiter in 1990.

However, other spacecraft - from Europe and Japan - have orbited the planet since then.

The missions were picked following a peer review process and were chosen based on their potential scientific value and the feasibility of their development plans.

 

"We hope these missions will further our understanding of how Earth evolved, and why it's currently habitable when others in our solar system are not," Nelson said, alluding to the recent NASA refocusing on climate change under the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden, who took office in January.

"Planetary science is critical in answering key questions that we have as humans, like, Are we alone? What implications beyond our solar system could these two missions [show]? This is really exciting stuff," Nelson said.

Discovery missions are capped at $500 million, excluding costs for the launch vehicle and mission operations. Both new Venus missions will launch between 2028 and 2030 and will carry technology demonstrations as well as the main science components, NASA said in a press release. 

VERITAS will host the Deep Space Atomic Clock-2, a successor to similar technology that launched to Earth orbit in June 2019. "The ultra-precise clock signal generated with this technology will ultimately help enable autonomous spacecraft maneuvers and enhance radio science observations," NASA stated.