VERITAS Aerobraking and Engineering Science Investigation

VERITAS (Venus Emissivity, Radio science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy) is a selected Discovery class mission. It will examine the past and present water, current or recent volcanic activity, and the geologic evolution of Venus. The VERITAS orbiter will carry two science payload instruments, the Venus Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (VISAR) and the Venus Emissivity Mapper (VEM), along with a Ka-band high-gain antenna for gravity science. VERITAS will provide foundational, global datasets (with a factor of x better than current data): topography (20x), imaging (5-10x), gravity (2-4x), and first every maps of rock type, and surface deformation from repeat pass interferometry.