Presentation #315.03 in the session “Venus”.
The Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging mission has been selected as one of the next NASA Discovery missions. Through a combined architecture of mission flybys and a probe descent phase, DAVINCI will answer long-standing questions about the origin of Venus, how its atmosphere and surface have evolved over time, and whether it ever harbored widespread and persistent liquid water oceans. DAVINCI will carry a payload of five instruments on the probe element and two instruments on the carrier spacecraft. Two flybys prior to probe release will provide new views and spectroscopic observations of Venus, in the ultraviolet on the dayside and in the near infrared on the night-side. The one-hour DAVINCI probe descent to the surface will provide altitude-resolved composition of the atmosphere, noble gas signatures of planetary formation and processes, definitive altitude-resolved knowledge of the winds, pressure, and temperature, and compositional, three-dimensional imaging of a rugged, mountainous region on Venus called Alpha Regio. DAVINCI will provide a new understanding of Venus, and the workings of Venus-like exoplanets, by connecting detailed in situ measurements to remote observations, providing new model inputs, and advancing our understanding of planetary habitability.