A recently released budget from NASA has left experts calling it a “soft cancellation” of the planned mission to Venus.
NASA’s Science Mission Directorate was directed to develop a mission concept to explore Venus by 2021, as part of the Obama administration. This directive was on the agenda of the new fiscal year budget request that was released earlier this week.
However, the overall budget amounts to much less than what the Obama administration designated for the mission. This has led experts to believe that the Venus mission is essentially being “soft-canceled.”
The mission would have investigated the Venusian atmosphere in an effort to understand its habitability as a home for possible lifeforms. The scientific community had thrown its support behind such a mission due to the potential discoveries it could make.
“It’s a mystery why this mission was not showered with full support,” said Mark Flournoy of the International Venus Exploration Initiative in an exclusive interview with the LA Times. “Given the recent scientific discoveries and the great potential of Venus to answer key questions about the evolution of rocky worlds and transformation of atmospheres, it is even more perplexing.”
This news has also threatened the progress of NASA’s plans for future manned missions to Mars. NASA has been preparing for a mission to the red planet for years and the cutting of the Venus budget could mean that those plans may have to be reworked for the sake of financial stability.
“This budget effectively kills [the Venus mission] at the same time that NASA is preparing for future robotic and perhaps human missions to Mars,” said Flournoy.
Experts hope that there may still be a chance to revive the mission and explore Venus, as they feel that the discoveries that could come from such an exploration would be invaluable.
