Free Astronomy Magazine July-August 2021

JULY-AUGUST 2021 I n the background, DAVINCI+ will send a meter-diameter probe to brave the high temperatures and pressures near Venus’ surface to explore the atmosphere from above the clouds to near the surface of a terrain that may have been a past conti- nent. During its final kilometers of free-fall descent, the probe will capture spec- tacular images and chemistry measurements of the deepest atmosphere on Venus for the first time. [NASA/GSFC visualization by CI Labs Michael Lentz and others] Below, an artist’s concept of the descent stages for the DAVINCI+ atmospheric probe and Alpha Regio tesserae imager. [NASA/GSFC] ment, while its VEM (Venus Emissiv- ity Mapper) instrument will map mineral composition and even de- tect surface water vapor. Additional studies will be performed by the VERITAS communication equipment to measure gravity variations to ob- tain both estimates of the size of the core and initial measurements of large-scale features below the planet’s surface. The surface scans will not only provide insights into ongoing geological activity, such as potential volcanism, but also pro- vide information to estimate the ages of geological features to deter- mine how quickly, and by what po- tential mechanisms, the Venusian