UK is Considering a Mission to Venus to Search for Life

Is there life on Venus? The controversial detection of phosphine and ammonia hints that bacterial life could be surviving in the planet’s milder upper atmosphere. But to confirm its existence, we’ll need to measure the atmosphere directly. A new mission concept was recently unveiled called the Venus Explorer for Reduced Vapours in the Environment (VERVE). It’s a CubeSat that could fly with ESA’s EnVision mission in 2031, studying the atmosphere for more evidence of active biology.