Venus In-Situ Explorer

The Venus In-Situ Explorer (VISE) is a mission that was proposed by the NASA planetary science Decadal Survey as a space probe designed to answer fundamental scientific questions by landing and performing experiments on Venus. It would be part of NASA's New Frontiers program [http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/profile.cfm?MCode=VISE VISE in the solarsystem.nasa.gov list of proposed missions] .

Overview and capabilities

While on the surface, the Venus In-Situ Explorer will acquire and characterize a core sample of the surface to study pristine rock samples not weathered by the very harsh surface conditions of the planet. Also, the VISE will measure the composition and mineralogy of the surface.The Venus In-Situ Explorer has been proposed for launch in 2013.

Other Venus exploration concepts

Several variant mission concepts for a Venus in-situ explorer have also been proposed, including both surface and atmospheric exploration:
* Other surface exploration concepts
* Aerobot concepts
* [http://gltrs.grc.nasa.gov/Citations.aspx?id=1568 Venus airplane concepts]

References