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

Venus

Venus is the second planet from the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. After the Moon, it is the brightest natural object in the night sky, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6, bright enough to cast shadows...

. It would be part of NASA

NASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...

's New Frontiers program

New Frontiers program

The New Frontiers program is a series of space exploration missions being conducted by NASA with the purpose of researching several of the Sun's planets including Jupiter, Venus, and the dwarf planet Pluto...

.

Overview and capabilities

While on the surface, the Venus In-Situ Explorer will acquire and characterize a core sample

Core sample

A core sample is a cylindrical section of a naturally occurring substance. Most core samples are obtained by drilling with special drills into the substance, for example sediment or rock, with a hollow steel tube called a core drill. The hole made for the core sample is called the "core hole". A...

 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

Mineralogy

Mineralogy is the study of chemistry, crystal structure, and physical properties of minerals. Specific studies within mineralogy include the processes of mineral origin and formation, classification of minerals, their geographical distribution, as well as their utilization.-History:Early writing...

 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
• Venus airplane concepts

External links

• NASA New Frontiers program plan (accessed 22 July 2010)
• NASA "Atmospheric Flight on Venus" (Glenn Technical Reports Server)