Part of what makes scientists so excited is that the capabilities of the two spacecraft are highly complementary. “We have such different spatial resolution of our datasets,” says Filiberto. “DAVINCI+ is going to be able to see these ancient rocks in higher resolution than VERITAS, but VERITAS is going to have global coverage, so they’re going to able to put our pinpoint into context.”
There also could be more craft joining the party soon. Later this month, ESA will select between two proposals for its next medium-sized mission — one of which, EnVision, is another Venus orbiter. Plus, Russia and India are separately planning their own Venus missions.
“Venus might get crowded in the next decade,” says Filiberto.
Biden’s NASA takes shape
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson made the announcement during a “State of NASA” address, his most expansive statement on the space agency's agenda since he was nominated by President Joe Biden earlier this year and sworn in by Vice President Kamala Harris on May 3. For the most part, that agenda continues the direction set by his predecessor, Jim Bridenstine, under the Trump administration. Nelson, 78, is a former Democratic U.S. senator from Florida and flew on the space shuttle Columbia in 1986 as a congressman.
In the Senate, Nelson was a vocal proponent of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS), which is the launcher, derived from the space shuttle, that will send astronauts back to the Moon under the Artemis program. Though SLS has suffered numerous delays and is over budget, Nelson’s nomination was a signal that the Biden administration would not abandon the launch system for a commercial alternative. In his speech, Nelson praised the program and reaffirmed NASA’s commitment to landing the first woman and the first person of color on the Moon.
One notable shift for NASA is a renewed emphasis on Earth science as part of Biden’s climate agenda. Nelson led his speech by discussing NASA’s Earth System Observatory, an ambitious initiative announced last week that aims to design and fly a set of satellites devoted to comprehensively monitoring Earth's changes. Nelson also gave a personal anecdote of his time in space, referencing the “overview effect” that astronauts have reported, where they obtain a newfound appreciation for both the planet’s beauty and fragility.
The only big piece of news from Nelson’s speech was the selection of DAVINCI+ and VERITAS, which he saved for last and announced with a prepared video — a moment of elation for the chosen science teams. “When the video came on, I thought it was like watching the Oscars,” with a montage of all of the nominees, says Filiberto. “It took me a while to realize they were showing both of the winners.”