DAVINCI: NASA's mission to explore the atmosphere of Venus (Pre-Mission)

Illustration of DAVINCI falling through the atmosphere of Venus. Credit: NASA/GSFC/CI Labs

Launch Date: 2029?

Launch Site: To Be Determined

Launch Vehicle: To Be Determined

Mission Type: Atmospheric Probe

Target: Venus

Dimensions: 1 Meter Across

Mass: Unavailable

DAVINCI (formerly DAVINCI+) stands for Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigations of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging. While the probe is obviously named after inventor and painter Leonardo Davinci, the man himself had little to do with the planet Venus. But hey! The acronym is cool!

The Mission

Credit: NASA/GSFC/CI Labs

After DAVINCI launches, it will take a few years to get to Venus. The spacecraft will make ultraviolet measurements of Venus's atmosphere during these flybys. In 2031, the probe will detach from the transfer spacecraft and decend into the atmosphere. It will relay its information to the main spacecraft as it decends through the atmosphere.

While the Soviet Union sent countless Venus probes, NASA has only had one (Venus Multiprobe). Granted that mission contained mutiple atmospheric probes in one, but the information obtained by them is old. DAVINCI will probe the atmosphere of Venus with 21st centaury instruments for the first time.

Credit: NASA/GSFC/CI Labs

DAVINCI will drop into Venus's atmosphere around the Texas-sized Alpha Regio region. The base of the probe will be made of solid Titaniam to shield it from the intense heat of atmospheric entry. Once the probe is in the atmosphere, a Venus rated ultra-strength parachute will deploy to slow down its decent. The parachute will detach halfway to the surface. This is because Venus's atmosphere is so dense, that it starts to act like a liquid. If you ever tried to run in a pool, you know that you don't go very fast or very far. 

Because the harsh environment would eventually destroy the probe, scientists want it to reach the surface as fast as possible. With the parachute released, the probe will still fall at a survivable rate, and may make it to the surface intact. While the probe isn't intended to make surface measurements, scientists will welcome any extra information that the probe may be able to glean from the surface of Venus. The whole decent should last around an hour, so DAVINCI will have to make the most of that time sampling the atmosphere.

The Target

Original and enhanced views of Venus from Mariner 10. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

• Date Discovered: Known To The Ancients
• Radius: 6051.8 Kilometres
• Surface Pressure: 90.82 Atmospheres
• Atmospheric Composition: Carbon Dioxide, Suphuric Acid, and Hydrogen Sulfide
• Mass: 4.8673x10^24 Kilograms
• Density: 15.243 g/cm^3
• Rotational Period: -243.018 Days*
• Orbital Period: 224.7 Days

*Negative number indicates retrograde (clockwise) rotation