DAVINCI

DAVINCI was one of the dozens of proposals submitted in 2015 to potentially become Mission #13 of NASA's Discovery Program. NASA's planned budget for Discovery Mission #13 was US$450 million. On September 30, 2015, DAVINCI was selected as one of five finalists.{{Cite news |date=July 7, 2015 |title=Small Bodies Dominate NASA's Latest Discovery Competition |url=https://spacenews.com/small-bodies-dominate-nasas-latest-discovery-competition/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20170104232751/http://spacenews.com/small-bodies-dominate-nasas-latest-discovery-competition/ |archive-date=January 4, 2017 |access-date=March 4, 2016 |work=SpaceNews }} On January 4, 2017, two competing proposals, Lucy and Psyche, defeated DAVINCI to be selected as the 13th and 14th Discovery missions, respectively.{{Cite press release |date=January 4, 2017 |title=NASA Selects Two Missions to Explore the Early Solar System |url=https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-selects-two-missions-to-explore-the-early-solar-system/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240902043910/https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-selects-two-missions-to-explore-the-early-solar-system/ |archive-date=September 2, 2024 |access-date=January 4, 2017 |publisher=NASA |id=17-003 }}

The DAVINCI proposal was revised and resubmitted under the name "DAVINCI+" for the Discovery Program in 2019,{{Cite magazine |last=Hall |first=Shannon |title=Venus, Earth’s Evil Twin, Beckons Space Agencies |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/venus-earths-evil-twin-beckons-space-agencies/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240622111215/https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/venus-earths-evil-twin-beckons-space-agencies/ |archive-date=June 22, 2024 |magazine=Scientific American }} and selected for Phase A funding on February 13, 2020.{{Cite press release |last1=Brown |first1=Katherine |date=February 13, 2020 |title=NASA Selects 4 Possible Missions to Study Secrets of the Solar System |url=https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-selects-four-possible-missions-to-study-the-secrets-of-the-solar-system/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240905105422/https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-selects-four-possible-missions-to-study-the-secrets-of-the-solar-system/ |archive-date=September 5, 2024 |publisher=NASA |id=20-016 }}{{Cite conference |last1=Garvin |first1=J. |last2=Arney |first2=G. |last3=Getty |first3=S. |last4=Johnson |first4=N. |last5=Kiefer |first5=W. |last6=Lorenz |first6=R. |last7=Ravine |first7=M. |last8=Malespin |first8=C. |last9=Webster |first9=C. |last10=Campbell |first10=B. |last11=Izenberg |first11=N. |last12=Cottini |first12=V. |title=DAVINCI+: Deep Atmosphere of Venus Investigation of Noble Gases, Chemistry, and Imaging, Plus |url=https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2020/pdf/2599.pdf |conference=51st Lunar and Planetary Science Conference |publisher=Lunar and Planetary Institute |access-date=June 7, 2021 |display-authors=etal |year=2020 }} Its Concept Study Report was submitted in November 2020. In June 2021, NASA selected DAVINCI+ as one of the next Discovery class missions.{{Cite web |date=April 1, 2019 |title=Discovery 2019 Announcement of Opportunity |url=https://nspires.nasaprs.com/external/viewrepositorydocument/cmdocumentid=674654/solicitationId=%7B1A1E6E89-A0C7-0034-0802-ED6E3C8C7E49%7D/viewSolicitationDocument=1/Discovery%2019.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231014224558/https://nspires.nasaprs.com/external/viewrepositorydocument/cmdocumentid=674654/solicitationId=%7B1A1E6E89-A0C7-0034-0802-ED6E3C8C7E49%7D/viewSolicitationDocument=1/Discovery%2019.pdf |archive-date=October 14, 2023 |website=NASA Solicitation and Proposal Integrated Review and Evaluation System |publisher=NASA |id=2700-0085 }} The mission's name was reverted to DAVINCI after selection.{{cite web|title=Mission to Venus Could Help Solve an Atmospheric Mystery

|first=Jaime |last=Cordova|date=17 September 2021|url=https://eos.org/articles/mission-to-venus-could-help-solve-an-atmospheric-mystery|publisher=EOS|access-date=3 February 2023}}

The DAVINCI Principal Investigator is James B. Garvin of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) and the Deputy Principal Investigators are Stephanie Getty and Giada Arney, both also of GSFC.{{Cite web |title=James "Jim" Brian Garvin |url=https://science.nasa.gov/people/james-jim-brian-garvin/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240624134857/https://science.nasa.gov/people/james-jim-brian-garvin/ |archive-date=June 24, 2024 |access-date=February 7, 2021 |website=NASA }}

A separate Venus orbiter mission, VERITAS, was selected at the same time, with the objective of mapping the surface features of Venus with radar to shed light into its history, evaluate this possibility of plate tectonics and volcanism, and understand how the planet developed so differently from Earth.{{Cite news |last=Strickland |first=Ashley |date=June 3, 2021 |title=NASA Venus missions: DAVINCI and VERITAS will uncover the secrets of Earth's twin |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2021/06/02/world/venus-nasa-discovery-missions-scn/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240429173745/https://edition.cnn.com/2021/06/02/world/venus-nasa-discovery-missions-scn/index.html |archive-date=April 29, 2024 |access-date=June 3, 2021 |work=CNN }}

Following five orbital missions to Venus (Venera 15, Venera 16, Magellan, Venus Express, and Akatsuki) focused on remote sensing observations, DAVINCI will be the first probe to enter the atmosphere of Venus since the Soviet Vega probes in 1985,{{Cite news |last=Williams |first=Matt |title=The DAVINCI spacecraft |url=https://phys.org/news/2015-10-davinci-spacecraft.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240623235855/https://phys.org/news/2015-10-davinci-spacecraft.html |archive-date=June 23, 2024 |access-date=March 4, 2016 |work=phys.org }} and the first atmospheric probe by NASA since the Pioneer Venus Multiprobe mission in 1978. DAVINCI will make direct measurements in the lower two-thirds of the atmospheric mass.

DAVINCI scientists will explore how Venus's atmosphere formed and then changed over time, including what happened to the water that is thought to have once existed on the planet. The findings will help scientists understand why Venus and Earth took such different paths as they matured,{{Cite journal |last1=Widemann |first1=Thomas |last2=Smrekar |first2=Suzanne E. |last3=Garvin |first3=James B. |last4=Straume-Lindner |first4=Anne Grete |last5=Ocampo |first5=Adriana C. |last6=Schulte |first6=Mitchell D. |last7=Voirin |first7=Thomas |last8=Hensley |first8=Scott |last9=Dyar |first9=M. Darby |last10=Whitten |first10=Jennifer L. |last11=Nunes |first11=Daniel C. |last12=Getty |first12=Stephanie A. |last13=Arney |first13=Giada N. |last14=Johnson |first14=Natasha M. |last15=Kohler |first15=Erika |date=2023-10-03 |title=Venus Evolution Through Time: Key Science Questions, Selected Mission Concepts and Future Investigations |journal=Space Science Reviews |language=en |volume=219 |issue=7 |pages=56 |doi=10.1007/s11214-023-00992-w |bibcode=2023SSRv..219...56W |issn=1572-9672|doi-access=free |hdl=20.500.11850/637406 |hdl-access=free }} and provide another point of comparison for studies of rocky exoplanets.

DAVINCI{{'s}} in situ measurements of the atmosphere will answer multiple questions regarding Venus's atmospheric composition as currently formulated for the National Research Council Planetary Science Decadal Survey's Venus In Situ Explorer (VISE).

The descent probe is not intended to operate once it touches down on the surface of Venus. However, there is a chance it might survive the impact at around 25 miles per hour (12 meters per second). In that case its instruments could continue operation for up to 18 minutes under ideal conditions.{{Cite web |last=Adkins |first=Jamie |date=June 2, 2022 |title=DAVINCI Mission To Take the Plunge Through Massive Atmosphere of Venus |url=https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/goddard/nasas-davinci-mission-to-take-the-plunge-through-massive-atmosphere-of-venus/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240902015315/https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/goddard/nasas-davinci-mission-to-take-the-plunge-through-massive-atmosphere-of-venus/ |archive-date=September 2, 2024 |access-date=July 13, 2022 |publisher=NASA }}

• Understand the origin of the Venus's atmosphere, how it has evolved, and how and why it is different from the atmospheres of Earth and Mars.
• Investigate the possibility of an ocean in Venus's past and the chemical processes at work in the lower Venusian atmosphere.
• Obtain high resolution pictures of the geological features (tesserae) of Venus, which will help to assess whether Venus has plate tectonics, and better understand how terrestrial planets are formed.

File:DAVINCI Venus mission atmospheric probe.jpg

DAVINCI is designed to address high-priority NASA decadal science by targeting noble gases, trace gases, and their isotopes, as well as temperature, pressure, winds, and imaging at Venus.

On the descent probe, DAVINCI{{'s}} Venus Analytic Laboratory (VAL) instruments will provide high-fidelity synergistic measurements throughout the probe's descent, particularly in the upper clouds and the unexplored near-surface environment. VAL design is based on the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument on the Curiosity rover, which measured the chemical and isotopic composition of the Martian atmosphere, and found the first definitive evidence of organics on Mars.{{Cite web |last=Steigerwald |first=Bill |date=December 16, 2014 |title=NASA Goddard Instrument's First Detection of Organic Matter on Mars |url=https://www.nasa.gov/solar-system/nasa-goddard-instrument-makes-first-detection-of-organic-matter-on-mars/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240808025609/https://www.nasa.gov/solar-system/nasa-goddard-instrument-makes-first-detection-of-organic-matter-on-mars/ |archive-date=August 8, 2024 |access-date=March 4, 2016 |publisher=NASA }} DAVINCI{{'s}} four science instruments are:{{Cite conference |last1=Glaze |first1=Lori |last2=Garvin |first2=James |last3=N. |first3=Johnson |last4=Atkinson |first4=D. |last5=Atreya |first5=S. |last6=Blacksberg |first6=J. |last7=Brinckerhoff |first7=W. |last8=Campbell |first8=B. |last9=Crisp |first9=D. |author-link=Lori Glaze |author-link2=James B. Garvin |title=DAVINCI: Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble Gases, Chemistry, and Imaging |url=https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2016/pdf/1560.pdf |conference=47th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference |publisher=Lunar and Planetary Institute |access-date=May 15, 2021 |display-authors=8 |website=Universities Space Research Association }}

File:DAVINCI Venus Mass Spectrometer.jpg

Proposed to be built by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), VMS will provide the first comprehensive in situ surveys of noble and trace gases at Venus, and has the capability to discover new gas species in the Venusian atmosphere. VMS is similar to Curiosity{{'}}s quadrupole mass spectrometer (QMS).{{Cite web |last1=Steigerwald |first1=Bill |date=November 9, 2021 |title=The briefcase-sized chemistry lab headed to Venus |url=https://www.nasa.gov/solar-system/meet-vms-the-briefcase-sized-chemistry-lab-headed-to-venus/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240603033319/https://www.nasa.gov/solar-system/meet-vms-the-briefcase-sized-chemistry-lab-headed-to-venus/ |archive-date=June 3, 2024 |access-date=March 16, 2022 |publisher=NASA }}

Proposed to be built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), VTLS will provide the first highly sensitive in situ measurements of targeted trace gases and associated isotope ratios at Venus, addressing key science questions about chemical processes in the upper clouds and the near-surface environment. VTLS is similar to Curiosity{{'}}s tunable laser spectrometer (TLS).

Proposed to be built by GSFC using flight-proven sensors, and led by Ralph Lorenz and Dave Atkinson of the Applied Physics Laboratory and JPL respectively, VASI will provide measurements of the structure and dynamics of the Venusian atmosphere during entry and descent, providing context for chemistry measurements and enabling reconstruction of the probe's descent.{{Cite tech report |last1=Glaze |first1=Lori |last2=Garvin |first2=James |last3=Robertson |first3=Brent |last4=Johnson |first4=Natasha |last5=Amato |first5=Michael |last6=Thompson |first6=Jessica |last7=Goodloe |first7=Colby |last8=Everett |first8=Dave |url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20170002022/downloads/20170002022.pdf |title=DAVINCI: Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging |publisher=NASA |author-link=Lori Glaze |author-link2=James B. Garvin |access-date=May 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210515134515/https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20170002022/downloads/20170002022.pdf |archive-date=May 15, 2021 |website=NASA Technical Reports Server |url-status=live }}

To be built by Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS), VenDI will provide high-contrast images of the tessera terrain at the descent location. VenDI is similar to Curiosity{{'}}s Mast Camera (Mastcam), Mars Descent Imager (MarDI), and Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI).

On the orbiter, a multi-spectral camera with narrow and wide-angle modes will image the planet in the UV and the 1-micron near-infrared band. The imaging will be done during two Venus flybys before the probe deployment, followed by an orbital remote sensing phase to complement the descent probe.

• EnVision, ESA's Venus orbiter
• Galileo orbiter's Jupiter atmospheric probe
• Venera, a series of Soviet probes and landers
• Pioneer Venus Multiprobe

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{{Commons category|DAVINCI+}}

• [https://ssed.gsfc.nasa.gov/davinci/ Mission website]

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