Launching in
2029. the DAVINCI mission named after Leonardo da Vinci is designed to address
fundamental questions about the origin, evolution and composition of Venus.
During two gravity assist flybys,
DAVINCI will study the cloud tops in ultraviolet light.
Tracking cloud patterns as they change with time and analyzing
signatures of mysterious chemicals that absorb 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.
seven months after our second flyby,
DAVINCI will release its atmospheric descent probe.
The spacecraft will watch its probe enter Venus's atmosphere
over the course of two days.
The probe will take about an hour to fall through the atmosphere,
taking measurements and snapping images down to the surface.
These measurements include profiles of composition,
winds, temperature, pressure and acceleration.
Key gases will be measured to help us understand how Venus formed and evolved.
Some of these measurements may reveal chemical signatures of ancient water.
With our suite of measurements, DAVINCI will provide new insights
into Venus's atmospheres, complex composition, structure and chemistry.
As the probe nears the surface, its descent camera will capture breathtaking
bird's eye views of the mysterious terrain known as the Alpha Regio tessera,
possibly revealing evidence in the rocks that water
once flowed across the Venusian surface.
These up close images of the surface will provide new insights
into geologic processes and will help us to understand
what it might be like to stand on the Venus surface.
The oxygen sensing student collaboration experiment will shed light
on the role of this gas in the Venus atmosphere.
The discoveries that emerge from this diverse
data set will tell us whether Venus was truly habitable
and the story we reveal at Venus will reach even beyond the Solar System
to analog exoplanets that will be observed with the James
Webb Space Telescope.
Venus is waiting for us all,
and DAVINCI is ready to take us there and ignite a new Venus renaissance.