{"id":500294,"date":"2021-06-02T16:41:41","date_gmt":"2021-06-02T20:41:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.marketnewsdesk.com\/index.php\/lockheed-martin-to-help-nasa-uncover-mysteries-of-venus-with-veritas-and-davinci-spacecraft\/"},"modified":"2021-06-02T16:41:41","modified_gmt":"2021-06-02T20:41:41","slug":"lockheed-martin-to-help-nasa-uncover-mysteries-of-venus-with-veritas-and-davinci-spacecraft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marketnewsdesk.com\/index.php\/lockheed-martin-to-help-nasa-uncover-mysteries-of-venus-with-veritas-and-davinci-spacecraft\/","title":{"rendered":"Lockheed Martin to Help NASA Uncover Mysteries of Venus with VERITAS and DAVINCI+ Spacecraft"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Lockheed Martin has a major role in NASA’s long-anticipated return to Venus<\/h2>\n

PR Newswire<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\n DENVER<\/span>, June 2, 2021<\/span> \/PRNewswire\/ —\u00a0To learn more about how terrestrial planets evolve over time, NASA selected the VERITAS and DAVINCI+ missions for its Discovery Program, both bound for Venus. Lockheed Martin will design, build and operate both spacecraft. The missions will launch in 2026 and 2030 respectively, and will combine to study Venus’ dense atmosphere, topography and geologic processes in great depth. <\/p>\n

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Both missions will aim to discover how Venus \u2013 which may have been the first potentially habitable planet in our solar system \u2013 became inhospitable to life.\u00a0They represent NASA’s return to Earth’s sister planet after more than three decades. <\/p>\n

“We’re very grateful for this opportunity to work with NASA and the missions’ principal investigators to fully understand how rocky planets evolved and what it means for our planet, Earth,” said Lisa Callahan<\/span>, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin’s Commercial Civil Space business. “Our team who designed these two spacecraft to study Venus in unprecedented detail \u2013 and yield answers to its greatest mysteries \u2013 is beyond excited!” <\/p>\n

The operations and science for DAVINCI+ \u2013 which stands for Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble Gases, Chemistry and Imaging Plus \u2013 will be managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland<\/span>. <\/p>\n

VERITAS \u2013 which stands for Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography & Spectroscopy \u2013 will have its science and operations managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California<\/span>. <\/p>\n

\n Why Does Venus Matter?
<\/b>Though scientists believe it was once similar to our home planet, Venus evolved to be much different \u2013 and far less habitable \u2013 than Earth.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

As Earth’s own climate and geology evolve, interest in returning to Venus has surged because the planet currently suffers from a runaway greenhouse gas effect. <\/p>\n

Over millennia, water that may have once existed on Venus’ surface evaporated and carbon dioxide built up in the atmosphere \u2013 leading to a present-day surface temperature that’s hot enough to melt lead. <\/p>\n

Previous missions to Venus have even provided tantalizing clues that the planet may have once harbored a liquid ocean. <\/p>\n

DAVINCI+ and VERITAS will build on those findings, helping scientists better understand the existence of past life on Venus and how its atmosphere and geology may have influenced its ultimate outcome. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Science from these missions could provide clues about Earth’s own future and will also help inform future missions to the planet. <\/p>\n

\n Studying Venus’ Geology with VERITAS
<\/b>As an orbiter that draws on heritage from the Lockheed Martin-built MAVEN<\/a> spacecraft at Mars, VERITAS will give scientists the most detailed maps ever produced of Venus’ obscured landscape. <\/p>\n

When VERITAS arrives at Venus, the orbiter will use a special technique called aerobraking to carefully insert itself into an optimal science position in the planet’s orbit. <\/p>\n

As the spacecraft circles Venus in four cycles near the planet’s poles, two extremely sensitive imagers will capture things like volcanic activity, tectonics and outgassing of any life-related compounds like water or carbon. <\/p>\n

\n Measuring Venus’ Atmosphere with DAVINCI+
<\/b>Part orbiter and part probe, the DAVINCI+ spacecraft will provide a look into Venus’ atmosphere in unprecedented detail. <\/p>\n

When it arrives at Venus, the DAVINCI+ spacecraft will jettison a probe to the planet’s surface. As it descends, three instruments will take the first-ever live measurements from inside Venus’s atmosphere \u2013 assessing gases, material composition, temperature and pressure. <\/p>\n

A camera on board will also snap the most detailed images ever taken of Venus’ hidden surface, which is obscured by thick, noxious clouds.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

\n Legacy of Planetary Exploration
<\/b>VERITAS and DAVINCI+ are the eighth and ninth NASA Discovery Program missions Lockheed Martin has been part of. Previously, the company has: <\/p>\n