Rocket Lab is sending the first-ever private interplanetary mission to Venus to search for signs of life in the clouds by detecting organic chemistry. The mission is planned for launch in January 2025 aboard Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket. The Lab’s Photon spacecraft will carry a small atmospheric probe weighing about 20 kg which it will drop near Venus right before entering its atmosphere. The probe will carry an Autofluorescence Nephelometer (AFN) to search for organic material in the clouds and characterize the cloud particles.
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Prof. Sara Seager, Dr. Janusz Petkowski and Dr. William Bains