A Venus-bound mission from NASA will carry a tiny sensor built | Astro Wonders

A Venus-bound mission from NASA will carry a tiny sensor built by students to the planet's hellish surface

NASA's DAVINCI mission to Venus will carry a dime-sized, student-built sensor to study the ​​planet's near-surface environment.

The DAVINCI (Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gasses, Chemistry, and Imaging) mission, which is slated to launch in 2029, aims to investigate Venus' atmosphere-climate system and shed new light on the scorching planet's potentially habitable past. It is the first Venus mission that will use both spacecraft flybys and a descent probe.

The miniature sensor, called the Venus Oxygen Fugacity (VfOx) instrument, will be mounted on the outside of the spacecraft's Descent Sphere, the probe that will enter Venus' atmosphere. The sensor will be designed, built, tested and operated by students as a part of the mission's Student Collaboration Experiment, according to NASA.

The spacecraft will perform two flybys of Venus before its probe plunges through the planet's dense atmosphere about two years after launch. The probe is expected to take measurements of clouds and ultraviolet absorption on the Venusian dayside, along with measurements of heat emanating from the planet's surface on the nightside. The probe will also ingest and analyze gasses in the planet's atmosphere while capturing images of its descent to an area known as Alpha Regio, which is composed largely of rugged, mountainous terrain called tessera.
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