VERITAS

VERITAS will answer outstanding fundamental questions about the evolution of Earth’s planetary twin. Does Venus have Earth-like continents that formed in the presence of water? Is its volcanism continuous, or does it come and go? Does the planet have plate tectonics? The mission will provide powerful insights about the interior of Venus that help us better understand our own planet.

VERITAS is a solar-powered Venus orbiter with many similarities to NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft at Mars. After arriving at Venus, the mission will use aerobraking to help slow the spacecraft and reshape its orbit. Once it completes aerobraking, VERITAS will circle the planet in a near-polar orbit, at its final science altitude of 250 miles (400 kilometers).

The VERITAS mission is led by Principal Investigator Sue Smrekar, and managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. The national space agencies of Italy, Germany, and France are also making major contributions to enable and enhance the mission.

The VERITAS team worked together for nearly a decade prior to the mission being selected for flight by NASA, proposing it a total of three times (twice for the Discovery program, and once for the New Frontiers program). Now, as VERITAS moves forward, the international collection of experts on the science team will use opportunities throughout the mission to train the next generation of planetary science leaders.