NASA, ESA Approve 2 Venus Missions for 2031 as Planet’s 127-Minute Surface Record Stands
Updated
Updated · en.clickpetroleoegas.com.br · May 18
NASA, ESA Approve 2 Venus Missions for 2031 as Planet’s 127-Minute Surface Record Stands
3 articles · Updated · en.clickpetroleoegas.com.br · May 18
NASA’s DAVINCI—approved for launch in 2029 and arrival in June 2031—will spend about 1 hour descending through Venus’s atmosphere, reviving in-situ measurements not made at that depth in decades.
ESA’s EnVision, targeted for 2031, will complement DAVINCI from orbit with high-resolution radar mapping rather than an atmospheric dive, forming the biggest coordinated Venus push since the Soviet program ended in 1984.
Venus remains one of spaceflight’s harshest targets: surface temperatures average about 460C, pressure reaches 90 atmospheres, and sulfuric-acid clouds corrode hardware, helping explain why no mission has beaten Venera 13’s 127-minute survival record from 1982.
The renewed focus comes 57 years after Venera 5 and 6 transmitted for 53 and 51 minutes in 1969, data that helped establish modern models of Venus’s carbon-dioxide atmosphere and runaway greenhouse effect.
Why has the 1982 record for surviving on Venus's surface remained unbroken for over four decades?
Could budget cuts end the new 'golden age' of Venus exploration before it even begins?
What past catastrophe turned Earth's twin into a planetary furnace, and could it happen here?
Venus 2031: Science, Strategy, and Survival—The Global Race to Unlock Earth’s Twin Amid Budget Turmoil
Overview
The vision for a 'decade of Venus' is facing major budgetary challenges, especially for NASA's role in exploring Venus. As of 2026, NASA's DAVINCI and VERITAS missions, along with ESA's EnVision, all face uncertainty about their launch schedules and future progress. Despite these funding constraints, the DAVINCI and VERITAS teams are still making progress by working in analog environments like Iceland and finding ways to do more with less. NASA's planetary science program, although spared from the steepest proposed cuts, still faces a significant funding shortfall, forcing tough choices and a tiered prioritization among Venus missions.