Two new NASA missions will uncover the secrets of Venus
(Photo / CNN)
It's time to revisit Venus, our closest planetary neighbour.
Two new missions to Earth's twin have been greenlit by NASA via the agency's Discovery Program. These missions, which were the two finalists selected from four concepts NASA highlighted in February 2020, will shed light on how Venus became the inhospitable world it is today, despite the fact that it shares many characteristics with Earth.
One mission would focus on the Venusian atmosphere, while the other would map the planet's surface.
Venus may have been the first habitable world in our solar system, including an ocean and climate similar to Earth -- but something happened to turn it into a planet with temperatures hot enough to melt lead.