 Artist's impression of the Venus Life Finder's Photon Explorer over Venus, carrying the atmospheric probe before deployment | |
| Mission type | Atmospheric Probe |
|---|---|
| Operator | Rocket Lab / MIT |
| Website | |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Bus | Photon Explorer[1] |
| Manufacturer | Rocket Lab |
| Dry mass | Probe:17 kg (37 lb)[2] |
| Payload mass | Probe:1 kg (2.2 lb)[2] |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 30 December 2024 (planned)[3] |
| Rocket | Electron |
| Launch site | Launch Complex 1, Māhia[4] |
| Contractor | Rocket Lab |
| Flyby of Moon | |
| Closest approach | 2025 (planned) |
| Venus atmospheric probe | |
| Spacecraft component | Probe |
| Atmospheric entry | 13 May 2025 (planned)[3] |
| Transponders | |
| Band | S-band[4] |
Venus Life Finder Missions[5] | |
Venus Life Finder is a planned uncrewed spacecraft to Venus designed to detect signs of life in the Venusian atmosphere.[4] Slated to be the first private mission to another planet, the spacecraft is being developed by Rocket Lab in collaboration with a team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.[6] The spacecraft will consist of a Photon Explorer cruise stage which will send a small atmospheric probe into Venus with a single instrument, an autofluorescing nephelometer, to search for organic compounds within Venus' atmosphere.[7]
Originally planned for launch in May 2023, the probe is now planned to launch no earlier than 30 December 2024, with arrival at Venus on 13 May 2025.[3]
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
rocketlabspacecraftwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
campbell1was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b c Foust, Jeff (31 October 2023). "Rocket Lab plans launch of Venus mission as soon as late 2024". SpaceNews. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
- ^ a b c French, Richard; Mandy, Christophe; Hunter, Richard; Mosleh, Ehson; Sinclair, Doug; Beck, Peter; Seager, Sara; Petkowski, Janusz J.; Carr, Christopher E.; Grinspoon, David H.; Baumgardner, Darrel (16 August 2022). "Rocket Lab Mission to Venus". Aerospace. 9 (8): 7. arXiv:2208.07724. Bibcode:2022Aeros...9..445F. doi:10.3390/aerospace9080445.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Seager1was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Rocket Lab Probe". Venus Cloud Life - MIT. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Archived from the original on 8 February 2024. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
- ^ O'Callaghan, Jonathan. "The first private mission to Venus will have just five minutes to hunt for life". MIT Technology Review. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Archived from the original on 19 January 2024. Retrieved 7 February 2024.