Nasa reveals the five missions it could attempt in 2020

This week Nasa announced that five possible new space missions could be launching by 2020, including a study of the surface of Venus.

The five selected missions will be funded $4.2 million each to further research and conduct concept designs. In September 2016, Nasa will review and choose which missions will be pursued.

According to the space agency, any of the missions, which are part of Nasa’s Discovery programme, launched in 1992, will cost at least $500 million.

One mission seeks to discover if there are volcanoes on Venus, while another hopes to study near-earth objects and a variety of asteroids.

Others include sampling the chemical composition of Venus’ atmosphere during an hour-long descent, studying the metallic asteroid Psyche, and performing the first reconnaissance of the Jupiter Trojan asteroids.

John Grunsfeld, astronaut and associate administrator for Nasa's Science Mission Directorate in Washington, said:

The selected investigations have the potential to reveal much about the formation of our solar system and its dynamic processes.

Dynamic and exciting missions like these hold promise to unravel the mysteries of our solar system and inspire future generations of explorers. It’s an incredible time for science, and Nasa is leading the way.

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