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photo = NASA |
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Venus is Earth’s neighbor and Earth’s closest brother in the solar system. But the surface environment is very different. Due to the extreme greenhouse effect caused by carbon dioxide, the surface temperature exceeds 460 degrees Celsius and the atmospheric pressure is close to 100 times that of Earth. Therefore, unlike Mars, even when a probe lands on the surface, the time and range of exploration is extremely short. What scientists have learned about Venus is bleak compared to Mars.
Scientists from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) are working on a series of studies to overcome this problem. One of them is throwing a high-altitude balloon or flying star to Venus. No matter how high Venus is, the temperature and pressure drop so that the spacecraft and astronauts can survive for a long time.
Scientists from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) recently conducted flight tests of an aerobot, a prototype of the Venus balloon probe, in the Nevada desert. The aerobot, a helium balloon with a diameter of 15 m, is made of special materials that can withstand the high temperature and high pressure environment of Venus. For reference, this is a scaled-down model and a full-scale model is being developed at approximately three times the size.
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The prototype of the aerobot flew to a height of about 1 km from Earth, but the probe to be sent to Venus rises to a height of between 52 and 62 km above the surface and directly explores the upper atmosphere of Venus, where no one has ever been. The atmosphere of Venus is at high pressure and density, so even a balloon of the same size is beneficial for flying higher than Earth. And at this altitude, the pressure and temperature are similar to those of Earth, allowing the probe to survive for months or more.
The target exploration period of the Venus balloon probe is over 100 days and it is expected that it will not be difficult to secure an energy source because solar energy is readily available as it flies above the thick clouds of Venus. There is no risk of solar panels becoming dusty like on Mars, and the closer they are to the sun, the more energy the same size can produce. There is a separate helium storage balloon inside the aerobot, so the altitude can be adjusted.
In fact, NASA is not the first to attempt to throw a balloon on Venus. Already in the former Soviet Union, Vega 1 and Vega 2 flew small balloons for about 46 hours. However, there was a limit to the information that could be collected due to technical limitations at the time. NASA’s next-generation Venus balloon probe could gather much more information over a longer period of time. Interestingly, a balloon probe that will fly above the clouds of Venus, where no one has ever been, will become a reality.
Gordon Jung science journalist [email protected]
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