In a difficult budgeting decision, NASA may soon be forced to cut funding for their mission to explore Venus – a mission that scientists are desperately fighting to save.
Originally established in 1995, the Venus Express mission aimed to understand the atmosphere, surface and geology of the neighboring planet. Since then, the spacecraft has revolutionized our understanding of Venus – providing insights into the planet’s climate, surface dynamics and geology. These findings have been critical in reorganizing our theories about Earth’s climate and cooling, and may have unlocked some of the secrets to future exploration of Venus itself.
Unfortunately, the Venus Express mission is now on the chopping block, a victim of budget cuts and the need to allocate funds elsewhere within the agency. Should these cuts go into effect, the Venus Express mission will be shut down, depriving the world of a vital source of information about our solar system.
Given this looming threat, scientists around the world are scrambling to find alternative sources of funding. Many have set up crowdfunding campaigns and are reaching out to private companies and individual benefactors. While this may provide some funds for the mission, it may not be enough to keep it afloat. At the same time, scientists are appealing to NASA’s Budget Director for an extension of the mission, if possible.
In a touching move, the outreach of the Save Venus Express Facebook page has grown swiftly. In just a couple of weeks the page has grown to 6,000 likes and counting, providing an unexpected source of support in an otherwise dismal situation.
With the potential mission failure creating a sense of urgency, the question now is whether the Venus Express mission can be saved or if the budget cuts will be too far gone. As scientists race against the clock to find a solution, all eyes have turned to the future of this mission and the potential breakthroughs that it could bring.
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