Venus and asteroids have emerged as top destinations for NASA's future planetary exploration. On 30 September, the agency announced a shortlist of five contenders for its US$500-million Discovery class of missions.
Two of the five proposed missions would target Venus, which NASA has not visited in more than two decades. A radar orbiter would map the planet’s cloud-enshrouded surface from above, while an atmospheric probe would descend directly through the layers of haze. “They're pretty exciting choices and focus on a body that has not received much attention,” says Steven Hauck, a planetary scientist at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.
Asteroid mission concepts include a telescope to hunt for dangerous near-Earth objects; a visit to the peculiarly metal-rich asteroid Psyche; and a tour of four Trojan asteroids that orbit near Jupiter.
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