June 3, Kathmandu - The US space agency NASA has said it will launch two space missions to find out about Venus by the end of this decade. NASA is aiming to find out why the nearest neighboring planet became a ball of fire even though the adjacent Earth is alive.

Two missions

NASA has announced that it will send two missions to Venus to test its atmosphere and geographical features. Each of these missions will receive a budget of 500 million. These missions will be operational between 2028 and 2030.

According to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, the missions will give the scientific community the opportunity to explore the planet for the first time in 30 years. Earlier, NASA had sent a Magellan mission to Venus in 1990. Since then, other spacecraft have traveled closer to the planet.

Lead also melts surface

NASA says the proposals for the two missions were selected by scientists after reviewing them and based on their scientific significance and feasibility of a development plan."These two missions will try to find out how Venus became a sphere of fire where even glass melts on the surface," according to Administrator Nelson.

Venus, second only to the Sun, is the hottest planet in the Solar System. The surface temperature is 500 degrees Celsius.

Characteristics of the mission

The first mission, called Davinci Plus, will look at how the planet was formed and developed. He will also try to find out if there was an ocean on Venus at any time. The second mission, Veritas, will map the surface of Venus to find out its geographical history and why it evolved so differently from Earth.