NASA is planning to launch two new missions to Venus in approximately 2030. Two robotic spaceships, called the Mars explorers, will fly by the Venus on July 7th. They will fly by within 3 days of each other, and that will be a first-time for two separate NASA space missions. The two spacecrafts will fly by the thick clouds of Venus and fly through at a slower pace than any other spacecraft has ever done before. It will be great news for people on Earth, because they will finally have a mission to land on another planet!
It may seem unbelievable, but NASA has never launched two identical satellites into a foreign planet before, nor will they do so during the next decade. The reason they will launch between 2021 and 2030 is that the technology for building a twin spacecraft is ready, and they want to test the idea in order to determine if it can be done successfully. If it can be done successfully, it will be a huge step forward for human space travel. Two similar craft around Venus that fly by at low altitude and high speed can send data back and forth faster than any communications system could.
The reason NASA will launch between two spacecrafts is to see if they can develop the software needed to control both craft at the same time. They hope to have something operational by the time they launch between twenty 28. That means the first probe to land on Venus will send back data. That means the exact position and velocity for each craft at different times during the landing process. This will be an enormous benefit to studying Venus’s atmosphere for studying its climate cycles.
If NASA does not plan ahead and build the right software, then it will be very difficult to take this data back with one craft. For example, if the first probe to land tries to turn around too soon, or the other probe has to make a hard turn to get out of the way, then they have to wait for all of it to come back. This will take weeks or longer than anticipated, but it would be worth it to study this thoroughly. Imagine if a probe landed on Venus today and only had a week or so to study it before they would need to move on. It would cost millions of dollars and severely delay all future planetary exploration programs.
It is also important to remember that only two of the twin spacecrafts will be launched. This leaves less weight for the rocket to launch them into orbit around Venus. The weight difference will be significant, but NASA says it will still be within budget. They say that their design allows them to launch with much more efficiency and weight than planned. So it looks like NASA may well win the competition to launch the first probe to land on Venus. Whether it will be the first or second launch is still up in the air.
There are also rumors that NASA could use a similar launch to launch two Earth-orbit missions around the same time as one to land on Venus. It has not been confirmed though, and it could very well be another ploy by NASA to keep the public interested in their plans. If one of these landings does happen to occur, it could very well put NASA in the lead for taking human explorers to Venus on either of its two future missions. Stay tuned, because NASA will launch two new flagship missions to Venus next year.