Future missions to Venus

[LazyHippo]

Planned in 2036, the ambitious Venus mission will follow up on the past missions to the planet in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s by previous Venera spacecraft operated by the former Soviet Union.

NASA is no longer collaborating on Russian space projects, apart from the International Space Station but Russia is still going forward with Venera-D, a robotic spacecraft.

The mission is planned send it to the moon and Venus, which "currently occup a central place" in the objective of Russian space agency Roscosmos.

First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov said in an interview with the Razvedchik Journal, which was cited Tuesday by the state-owned Russian outlet TASS.

 

"Let me remind you that back in 1970, our country succeeded in successfully landing a spacecraft on another planet in the solar system. And that was Venus. Therefore, we will probably move in this direction first," Manturov said.

Venera-D's goals will be looking for microbial life in Venus clouds, following the recent discovery of phosphine and ammonia, which are potential biomarkers, in the planet's atmosphere.

The 1970 mission Manturov mentioned was Venera 7, one of four Soviet Venera spacecraft to touch down successfully on Venus and send back pictures from the surface, according to The Planetary Society. Venera 7 and other Soviet landing missions successfully withstood temperatures of 900 degrees Fahrenheit (480 degrees Celsius) and a surface pressure over 90 times that of Earth at sea level to show a volcanic-rock surface tinged in yellow (an effect of the sulfuric-acid clouds making up the atmosphere).

 

The Soviet Union launched several Venera missions over the past 22 years.

 

First ones, Venera 1 and Venera 2, which launched in Feb. 1961 and Nov. 1975, respectively.

 

All designed to fly by Venus but didnt send back the data needed. Venera 3 entered the atmosphere as planned in March 1966, but fell silent.

 

Venera's 4 to 6, successfully entered the atmosphere and sent back data to prepare for the first landing attempt, by Venera 7, launched in August 1970.

 

The concluding successful Venera 16 mission in 1983.

NASA, the European Space Agency and Japan made Venus orbiting missions in the past and seemed to plan some in the future: NASA's VERITAS and DAVINCI projects wich survived cancellation threats due to cuts in the US budget for 2026 and India is planning to send its own Venus mission around 2028.

 

A private mission headed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology want to launch a "Venus Life Finder" spacecraft by the end of this year.

 

Illustration of Russia's planned Venera-D mission at Venus. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Edited March 15 by LazyHippo