Why Venus?

Venus is Earth's next-closest neighbor. Venus is often referred to as Earth's twin due to its similarity in size, mass and gravity, but something happened over the millennia that turned the planet's surface into a hot and inhospitable place. However, Venus' atmosphere's temperature and pressure, some 50-70 kilometers (30-45 miles) above the surface, are similar to Earth's temperature and pressure. Scientists believe that studying it will hold the key to understanding what makes Venus' environment so different and shed light on Earth's planetary and climate evolution. Understanding the characteristics of Venus will also help them to better categorize the thousands of newly found exoplanets as being like Earth, Mars or Venus.

A Unique Planetary Exploration Vehicle

The Venus Atmospheric Maneuverable Platform (VAMP) air vehicle (AV) is an aeroshell-less hypersonic entry vehicle that transitions to a semi-buoyant, maneuverable, solar-powered air vehicle for flight in Venus' atmosphere. VAMP AV will be transported to Venus by a carrier/orbiter spacecraft. Once the spacecraft is safely in Venus' orbit, VAMP AV is deployed while still attached to the spacecraft. It is then released and enters the atmosphere, floating down toward the planet almost like a falling leaf. Once the AV is in the atmosphere and has completed the entry phase, it transitions to the flight phase of the mission.