NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) recently completed two test flights of an aerobot prototype over Nevada's Black Rock desert as part of research for the potential Venus mission. The agency reported that it was a successful launch.
Venus Exploration Concept and Prototype
It is challenging to send a spacecraft to Venus because of the planet's intense heat, high pressure, and corrosive gases, rendering it useless in hours. Yet, according to researchers, an area where an aerobot could move safely is a few dozen miles above the hostile region.
According to one concept, a balloon and an orbiter would collaborate to study Venus. The aerial robotic balloon, or aerobot, would travel into the atmosphere while the orbiter would stay high above it, taking scientific measurements and acting as a communication relay. It measures 40 feet in diameter.
According to Digital Trends, the prototype balloon has an outer balloon made of helium that can expand and contract. It also has an inner reservoir that is rigid and filled with helium. By changing the buoyancy levels and allowing helium to pass between the inner and outer sections, helium vents enable researchers to control the aerobot's altitude.
Balloon Test Flight
Two flights were made to test a prototype balloon roughly one-third the size of the one traveling to Venus. The flights were conducted by JPL scientists and engineers and the Near Space Corporation, a commercial provider of high-altitude near-space platforms.
JPL reported that the balloon traveled 4,000 feet to a location in Earth's atmosphere comparable to the density the aerobot would encounter about 180,000 feet above Venus.
The aerobot could float high above Venus for weeks or even months, giving it enough time to monitor the atmosphere for venusquake-induced acoustic waves and analyze the chemical makeup of the planet's clouds, among other mission objectives. All of the gathered data would be transmitted back to Earth via the accompanying orbiter.
Successful Launch of Aerobot
Jacob Izraelevitz, a JPL robotics technologist, said they are extremely happy with the prototype's performance. He said it was launched, demonstrated controlled-altitude maneuvers, and recovered in good condition after both flights.
Izraelevitz continued by saying they collected a huge amount of data from these flights and are eager to use it to enhance the simulation models before visiting the sister planet.
Since the Soviet Union used a similar design to explore Venus in 1985 as part of its twin Vega 1 and 2 missions, balloons have been considered a practical means of doing so. Before their instrument batteries ran out, the two helium-filled balloons traveled on the Venusian winds for just over 46 hours. Their brief stay in Venus' atmosphere gave scientists a tantalizing glimpse of the research they might be able to conduct with a bigger, longer-lasting balloon platform floating within the atmosphere, according to JPL.
ALSO READ: Why Is Venus So Bright? Here's How Its Proximity to Earth, Highly Reflected Clouds Affects It
Venus Exploration
According to Planetary.org, scientists believe the planet may have had liquid water on its surface for 2 billion years during the early solar system's cooler period. The water may be essential in the granite-like rock formation based on the previous missions. Because of the possible existence of water, it is also possible that life once existed on Earth's sister planet.
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