NASA’s DAVINCI Venus probe passes a 465 °C oven test

Oct 2 · NASA

Between 28 August and 10 September 2026, engineers placed a development model of DAVINCI’s yoga-ball-sized descent probe in a ceramic-lined chamber and heated it to 465 °C in about an hour, the same rate it will warm while falling through Venus’s atmosphere. The mission is meant to show whether Venus was once wet and habitable like Earth. Our take: on Venus the heat is the main enemy, so proving the hardware on the ground first is exactly the right order.

Source: NASA ↗