DAVINCI

DAVINCI (Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging) is a NASA mission that will send a spherical atmospheric probe descending through Venus's thick atmosphere to the planet's surface. It will measure atmospheric composition, temperature, pressure, and noble gases during descent. The mission was selected under NASA's Discovery Program.

DAVINCI is currently targeted for launch in 2029, with arrival at Venus anticipated in the early 2030s. The mission timeline was set after its selection by NASA in 2021 alongside the VERITAS orbiter. Launch windows to Venus occur approximately every 19 months.

While VERITAS is an orbiter designed to map Venus's surface using radar and infrared imaging, DAVINCI is a descent probe that directly samples the atmosphere on its way to landing. DAVINCI will provide the first in-situ atmospheric measurements since the Soviet Vega missions in the 1980s. The two missions are complementary, with VERITAS studying global geology and DAVINCI studying atmospheric chemistry.

DAVINCI aims to determine whether Venus ever had liquid water oceans, to measure the ratio of noble gases that could reveal the planet's volcanic and atmospheric history, and to photograph the descent region in high resolution. It will also help constrain the chemical processes driving Venus's runaway greenhouse effect. These measurements have implications for understanding rocky planet evolution.