VERITAS (spacecraft)
VERITAS (Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy) is an upcoming mission from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to map the surface of the planet Venus in high resolution. The combination of topography, near-infrared spectroscopy, and radar image data will provide knowledge of Venus's tectonic and impact history, gravity, geochemistry, the timing and mechanisms of volcanic resurfacing, and the mantle processes responsible for them.
Illustration of VERITAS spacecraft in orbit around Venus | |
| Mission type | Venus Orbiter |
|---|---|
| Operator | Jet Propulsion Laboratory / NASA |
| Mission duration | 3 years (planned) |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Manufacturer | Lockheed Martin |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | No earlier than 2031 (official) November 2029 (proposed) |
| Instruments | |
| Venus Emissivity Mapper (VEM) Venus Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (VISAR) Deep Space Atomic Clock-2 (DSAC-2) | |
On 4 November 2022, NASA announced the postponement of the mission launch from 2027 to 2031, citing institutional problems at JPL delaying the launch of Psyche. The mission's Principal Investigator Suzanne Smrekar has counterproposed a November 2029 launch date, which she argued would require only modest "bridge" funding and compared to the 2031 option would offer lower overall cost and fewer conflicts with DAVINCI and EnVision; this position obtained endorsement by a Congressional committee in October 2023.