As the eyes of Earth are currently focused on Mars, where rovers have been dropping onto the surface seemingly weekly (and a copter takes to the sky), NASA has announced two future missions to Venus to study our slightly neglected neighbor.

The DAVINCI+ (Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging) and VERITAS (Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy) missions will be taken up by NASA scientists and engineers for anticipated launch windows sometime between 2028 and 2030.

The DAVINCI+ mission will consisting of an orbiting platform as well as an atmospheric entry vehicle.  The orbiter will take high resolution of the Venusian “tesserae”–thought to be the equivalent of Earth’s tectonic plates–which could give insight into the potential that the planet’s surface experience continental drift.  It will also take measurements of the planet to help scientists understand the possibility of past oceans on Venus.

The entry vehicle will be a spherical probe that will drop into Venus’ dense atmosphere to measure the quantities of noble gases and other elements to understand why Venus’ atmosphere is a runaway hothouse compared the Earth’s.  Venus’ atmosphere is so dense and its surface is so hot, current technology does not make a functioning rover possible.

The VERITAS orbiter contains a synthetic aperture radar which will map the planet’s surface so 3D representations of Venus can be created based on the data.  It will also take measurements to answer an unknown about Venus:  what makes up the surface of the planet.

“We’re revving up our planetary science program with intense exploration of a world that NASA hasn’t visited in over 30 years,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA’s associate administrator for science. “Using cutting-edge technologies that NASA has developed and refined over many years of missions and technology programs, we’re ushering in a new decade of Venus to understand how an Earth-like planet can become a hothouse. Our goals are profound. It is not just understanding the evolution of planets and habitability in our own solar system, but extending beyond these boundaries to exoplanets, an exciting and emerging area of research for NASA.”