“Newer, Nimbler, Faster:” Venus Probe Will Search for Signs of Life in Clouds of Sulfuric Acid

upstart writes:

"Newer, nimbler, faster:" Venus probe will search for signs of life in clouds of sulfuric acid:

With multiple rovers landed and a mission set to return samples to Earth, Mars has dominated the search for life in the solar system for decades. But Venus has some fresh attention coming its way.

In a new report published today, a team led by MIT researchers lays out the scientific plan and rationale for a suite of scrappy, privately-funded missions set to hunt for signs of life among the ultra-acidic atmosphere of the second planet from the sun.

"We hope this is the start of a new paradigm where you go cheaply, more often, and in a more focused way," says Sara Seager, Class of 1941 Professor of Planetary Sciences in MIT's Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences (EAPS) and principal investigator for the planned Venus Life Finder Missions. "This is a newer, nimbler, faster way to do space science. It's very MIT."

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