Meet VMS: The briefcase-sized chemistry lab headed to Venus

Short for Venus Mass Spectrometer, VMS is one of five instruments aboard the DAVINCI descent probe. Launching in 2029, DAVINCI will be the first US probe mission to enter Venus’ atmosphere in over 40 years. The goal of the mission is to explore Venus to determine if it was habitable, and to understand how it ended up as inhospitable as it did.