Revealing the Mysteries of Venus: The DAVINCI Mission

J. B. Garvin(Goddard Space Flight Center), Stephanie Getty(Goddard Space Flight Center), Giada Arney(Goddard Space Flight Center), Natasha M. Johnson(Goddard Space Flight Center), Erika Köhler(Goddard Space Flight Center), Kenneth O. Schwer(Goddard Space Flight Center), Michael J. Sekerak(Goddard Space Flight Center), Arlin E. Bartels(Goddard Space Flight Center), Richard Saylor(Goddard Space Flight Center), Vincent E. Elliott(Goddard Space Flight Center), Colby Goodloe(Goddard Space Flight Center), Matthew Garrison(Goddard Space Flight Center), V. Cottini(Agenzia Spaziale Italiana), N. R. Izenberg(Johns Hopkins University), R. D. Lorenz(Johns Hopkins University), C. A. Malespin(Goddard Space Flight Center), M. A. Ravine(Malin Space Science Systems (United States)), Christopher R. Webster(Jet Propulsion Laboratory), D. H. Atkinson(Jet Propulsion Laboratory), Shahid Aslam(Goddard Space Flight Center), S. K. Atreya(University of Michigan), Brent J. Bos(Goddard Space Flight Center), W. B. Brinckerhoff(Goddard Space Flight Center), B. A. Campbell(Smithsonian Institution), David Crisp(Jet Propulsion Laboratory), J. Filiberto(Johnson Space Center), F. Forget(Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), M. S. Gilmore(Wesleyan University), Nicolas Gorius(Goddard Space Flight Center), David Grinspoon(Planetary Science Institute), Amy E. Hofmann(Jet Propulsion Laboratory), Stephen R. Kane(University of California, Riverside), W. S. Kiefer(Lunar and Planetary Institute), S. Lebonnois(Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), P. R. Mahaffy(Goddard Space Flight Center), Alexander A. Pavlov(Goddard Space Flight Center), M. G. Trainer(Goddard Space Flight Center), Kevin Zahnle(Ames Research Center), M. Yu. Zolotov(Arizona State University)
The Planetary Science Journal
May 1, 2022
10.3847/psj/ac63c2
Cited by 173Open Access
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Abstract

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 an atmospheric transect above Alpha Regio. These in situ investigations of the atmosphere and near-infrared (NIR) descent imaging of the surface will complement remote flyby observations of the dynamic atmosphere, cloud deck, and surface NIR emissivity. The overall mission yield will be at least 60 Gbits (compressed) new data about the atmosphere and near surface, as well as the 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.

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