NASA planning two missions worth $1 billion to Venus to study 'lost habitable' world

NASA has selected two new missions to study Venus to understand how Earth’s nearest planetary neighbour became an inferno-like world when it may have been the first habitable world in the solar system, complete with an ocean and Earth-like climate.

Washington: NASA has selected two new missions to study Venus to understand how Earth’s nearest planetary neighbour became an inferno-like world when it may have been the first habitable world in the solar system, complete with an ocean and Earth-like climate. The two missions were selected, based on their potential scientific value and the feasibility of their development plans, from four mission concepts that NASA picked in February 2020 as part of the agency`s Discovery 2019 competition. The project teams will now work to finalise their requirements, designs, and development plans. NASA is awarding approximately $500 million per mission for development. Each is expected to launch in the 2028-2030 timeframe.