StarTalk with David Grinspoon | Why We’re Going Back to Venus

My Account

Mijn Account

Mon Compte

Mein Konto

我的帐户

Connexion

Anmeldung

StarTalk with David Grinspoon | Why We’re Going Back to Venus

Is there life in the Venusian Clouds? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice are joined by planetary astrobiologist David Grinspoon to discuss NASA’s return to Venus, our space future, and whether we’ll find life in our solar system.

As a primary investigator on the upcoming DAVINCI mission, David explains why we haven't sent a dedicated U.S. mission to our sister planet since the 1980s and how the history of "space futures" has always been a reflection of our own culture and politics. Neil and David explore the evolution of our planetary visions, from the mass delusion of Martian canals and Jules Verne's moon voyagers to the propaganda efforts during and before the Apollo era. You'll learn how people once assumed every planet was inhabited, only to have their "cloud swamp" dreams shattered by the harsh reality of a runaway greenhouse effect.

When did scientists realize Venus’s runaway greenhouse and that it wouldn’t have life? We get into the nuts and bolts of the DAVINCI (2031) and VERITAS missions. How do you build a probe to survive pressures 100 times that of Earth and temperatures hotter than a pizza oven? David breaks down the dive through the Venusian atmosphere, where the mission will capture the first-ever 21st-century measurements and descent photography of the surface.

They also tackle the phosphine controversy: Could life actually thrive in a permanent global cloud deck? Why isn’t there life in the clouds on Earth, even though you can find life everywhere else?

With the Europa Clipper heading to Jupiter’s icy moon and the OSIRIS-REX sample from Bennu revealing 14 different amino acids, the kit for life seems to be sprinkled across the cosmos. If the ingredients are common could life itself be too?

StarTalk

Neil deGrasse Tyson

StarTalk with David Grinspoon | Why We’re Going Back to Venus

Join the conversation 🎭

Fexl | Raw Images from Titan Reveal Something Unexpected

StarTalk | Do Colliding Pulsars Create All of the Universe’s Gold?

StarTalk | What Would Happen to Earth if Jupiter Stopped Rotating

We Thought Black Holes Ended in Singularities... But...

Fexl | Scientists Just Found New Evidence of Life on Enceladus

Fexl | New Data from Juno Shows Something Strange on Jupiter

Fexl | Real Images of Saturn Show That Something is Seriously Off

Astrum | We're Close to Harnessing the Power of a Star

We're Going Back to the Moon and Scientists aren't Happy About It

Beyond Nature | The Hidden Worlds Beyond Neptune

Astrum | Perseverance Just Heard an Unexpected Sound on Mars

Beeyond Ideas | The Hidden Dimensions Inside Black Holes

Venture City | Isaac Asimov: The Earth-Moon System

StarTalk | Why the Moon is Spiraling Away From Us

Is the Universe Expanding Faster than The Speed of Light?

Astrum | Could There Really Be Life on Enceladus?

StarTalk | The Missions Bringing Us Back to the Moon

Kosmo | What Was Discovered Beyond the Solar System?

Progress | The Moon: Our Gateway To The Universe

StarTalk | What Would Happen if the Moon Were 20 Times Closer?

Dr. Becky | Why Doesn’t Dark Matter Collapse Into Black Holes?

StarTalk | How We’re Trying to Detect Dark Matter Particles

BBC News | Inside Artemis II and Humanity's Return to The Moon

Astrum | What NASA Found Below Jupiter's Clouds

The Space Race | What NASA Found Inside The Sun

History of the Universe | What Is Beyond The End?

Howtown | The Moon's Origin Story Doesn't Add Up

Astrum | What if an Antimatter Meteor Hit the Earth?

Insane Curiosity | Why No Human Will Ever Return From Saturn

The Space Race | Something Weird is Happening on Neptune