This image made available by NASA shows the planet Venus made with data from the Magellan spacecraft and Pioneer Venus Orbiter. On Wednesday, June 2, 2021, NASA’s new administrator, Bill Nelson, announced two new robotic missions to the solar system's hottest planet, during his first major address to employees. (NASA/JPL-Caltech via AP)
By Marcia Dunn
NASA is returning to sizzling Venus, our closest yet perhaps most overlooked neighbor, after decades of exploring other worlds.
The space agency's new administrator, Bill Nelson, announced two new robotic missions to the solar system's hottest planet, during his first major address to employees Wednesday.
“These two sister missions both aim to understand how Venus became an inferno-like world capable of melting lead at the surface," Nelson said.
One mission named DaVinci Plus will analyze the thick, cloudy Venusian atmosphere in an attempt to determine whether the inferno planet ever had an ocean and was possibly habitable. A small craft will plunge through the atmosphere to measure the gases.
It will be the first U.S.-led mission to the Venusian atmosphere since 1978.
The other mission, called Veritas, will seek a geologic history by mapping the rocky planet’s surface.
“It is astounding how little we know about Venus," but the new missions will give fresh views of the planet's atmosphere, made up mostly of carbon dioxide, down to the core, NASA scientist Tom Wagner said in a statement. “It will be as if we have rediscovered the planet.”
NASA’s top science official, Thomas Zurbuchen, calls it “a new decade of Venus.” Each mission — launching sometime around 2028 to 2030 — will receive $500 million for development under NASA’s Discovery program.
The missions beat out two other proposed projects, to Jupiter's moon Io and Neptune's icy moon Triton.
The U.S. and the former Soviet Union sent multiple spacecraft to Venus in the early days of space exploration. NASA's Mariner 2 performed the first successful flyby in 1962, and the Soviets' Venera 7 made the first successful landing in 1970.
In 1989, NASA used a space shuttle to send its Magellan spacecraft into orbit around Venus.
The European Space Agency put a spacecraft around Venus in 2006.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Monday laid out a proposal that would require businesses to disclose the emissions they produce. Kathleen Rogers, CEO & President at EARTHDAY.ORG, joined Cheddar News to break down the implications of this historic step.
Deepwell Digital Therapeutics is a game development company looking to transform the way we look at video games — this time to improve health outcomes. Its goal is to create software to aid those who deal with conditions such as depression and ADHD. Company co-founder and co-CEO Ryan Douglas and co-founder Kate Edwards joined Cheddar News to talk about the technology is being used to help patients. "From a research perspective, the game industry itself has been well aware for many, many years of the kind of inherent, kind of anecdotal therapeutic value of playing games," said Edwards.
Catching you up on what you Need to Know on Mar 21, 2022, with updates on the Russian invasion in Ukraine, a Boeing 737-800 plane carrying 132 people crashed in China, Canadian Pacific rail workers on strike, another possible COVID surge, and the SEC's new climate rules for businesses.
The Bill Gates-founded Breakthrough Energy company invested $80 million in Verdox Inc. to facilitate efficient, lower-cost technolog to remove carbon from the air and emission sources. CEO of Verdox, Brian Baynes, joined Cheddar News to discuss the investment, how the company's tech works, and where he sees it going. "We anticipate that with technologies like ours, we potentially can get to the scale of about a million tons per year within 5-10 years," he said. "And then ultimately we need to be doing this at the scales of billions of tons per year and ultimately about 10 billion tons per year in the year 2050."
As the Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, medical experts are worried conditions in active warzones will exacerbate the current pandemic — or even give rise to other contagions. Dr. Daniel Fagbuyi, a war veteran and former Obama administration biodefense appointee, joined Cheddar News to discuss the ongoing danger of COVID-19 on top of the war, as well as the potential for new variants to emerge. "I mean just large volumes of people definitely is a breeding ground. That's the worst case," he said. "Two things don't mix: war-conflict and a virus, a potential pandemic virus."
Medical cannabis company Akanda went public this week in what was the first traditional IPO of the month. Shares jumped about 163% in the stock's first day of trading. The London-based company says it hopes to supply medical cannabis products to wholesalers in international markets. Tej Virk, CEO of Akanda, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
