Revealing the Mysteries of Venus: The DAVINCI Mission

TL;DR

The DAVINCI mission aims to explore Venus's atmosphere and surface through flybys and descent imaging, providing new insights into its composition, evolution, and potential habitability, with data collection planned for 2029-2031.

Contribution

First integrated mission combining science-driven flybys and descent sphere to study Venus's atmosphere and surface in detail.

Findings

In situ atmospheric composition data will be collected during descent.

First characterization of Venus's deep atmosphere environment and chemistry.

Comprehensive data set of 60 Gbits on atmosphere and surface features.

Abstract

The Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging (DAVINCI) mission described herein has been selected for flight to Venus as part of the NASA Discovery Program. DAVINCI will be the first mission to Venus to incorporate science-driven flybys and an instrumented descent sphere into a unified architecture. The anticipated scientific outcome will be a new understanding of the atmosphere, surface, and evolutionary path of Venus as a possibly once-habitable planet and analog to hot terrestrial exoplanets. The primary mission design for DAVINCI as selected features a preferred launch in summer/fall 2029, two flybys in 2030, and descent sphere atmospheric entry by the end of 2031. The in situ atmospheric descent phase subsequently delivers definitive chemical and isotopic composition of the Venus atmosphere during a cloud-top to surface transect above Alpha Regio. These in situ investigations of the atmosphere and near infrared descent imaging of the surface will complement remote flyby observations of the dynamic atmosphere, cloud deck, and surface near infrared emissivity. The overall mission yield will be at least 60 Gbits (compressed) new data about the atmosphere and near surface, as well as first unique characterization of the deep atmosphere environment and chemistry, including trace gases, key stable isotopes, oxygen fugacity, constraints on local rock compositions, and topography of a tessera.