NASA is working on drones that could survive the infernal atmosphere of Venus

In the coming decades, NASA and other space agencies hope to mount ambitious missions on other planets in our solar system.

In addition to studying Mars and the outer solar system in more detail, NASA intends to send a mission. to Venus to learn more about the planet's past. This will include studying the upper atmosphere of Venus to determine if the planet has ever had liquid water (and possibly even life) on its surface.

To address this formidable challenge, NASA recently partnered with Black Swift Technologies – a Boulder-based company specializing in Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) – to build a survival-capable drone. in the upper atmosphere of Venus. It will not be an easy task, but if their designs are equal to the task, NASA will award the company a lucrative contract for a Venus aerial drone.

In recent years, NASA has renewed its interest in Venus through climate models that have indicated that (just like Mars) have also had liquid water on the surface at the same time.

This would probably have been a shallow ocean that covered much of the planet's surface about 2 billion years ago, before the planet experienced an uncontrollable greenhouse effect that left it the hot and hellish world that she is today.

In addition, a recent study – which included scientists from the NASA Ames Research Center and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory – indi There is therefore considerable motivation to send aerial platforms to Venus that would be able to. study the tops of the clouds of Venus and determine whether there are traces of organic life or Jack Elston, the co-founder of Black Swift Technologies, explained in an interview with the Daily Camera:

"They are looking for vehicles to explore just above the cloud layer.The pressure and temperatures are similar to what you would find on Earth, so it might be a good environment to look for evidence of life. The winds in the upper atmosphere of Venus are incredibly strong, creating a design challenge. "

To meet this challenge, the company intends to create a drone that will use these strong winds to maintain the craft at altitude

Up to Now, NASA has awarded an initial six-month contract to the company to design a drone and provide specifications on what it needs. Federal Government Small Business Innovation Research Program

The purpose of this program is to encourage "small, national firms to participate in marketable federal research / development (R & D)."

use part of this grant to recruit more staff and build a drone that NASA would be confident of sending to the upper atmosphere of Venus, where conditions are particularly difficult.

As Elston explained to Univ Today, these challenges represent an opportunity for innovation:

"Our project focuses on a unique aircraft and a recovery method of the 39, energy from the upper atmosphere of Venus that does not require additional sources of energy for propulsion

experience working on unmanned aircraft systems that interact with convective storms Severe on Earth will bring, we hope, a valuable contribution to the ongoing discussion on the best way to explore this turbulent environment.

"In addition, the work we do own aircraft and should lead to longer observation times and more robust planes to observe everything from volcanic plumes to hurricanes. "

At the end of the six-month period, Black Swift will present its concept to NASA for approval. "If they like what we have imagined, they will fund another two-year project to build prototypes," Elston said. "This second-phase contract should be worth $ 750,000."

This is not the first time that Black Swift has partnered with NASA to create unmanned aerial vehicles to study harsh environments

. a second contract valued at $ 875,000 to build a drone capable of monitoring temperature, gas levels, winds and pressure levels inside Costa Rica's volcanoes.

After a series of test flights, If the concept of BlackSwift for a Venus drone makes the cut, their aerial drone will join other mission concepts like the DAVINCI spacecraft, l & # 39; emissivity of Venus, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography and Spectroscopy. (VERITAS), the Venus Atmospheric Maneuverable Platform (VAMP), or Russia's Venera-D mission – which is currently scheduled to explore Venus in the late 2020s.

A number of others We study the cepts to explore the surface of Venus to learn more about its geological history. These include a "Steampunk" rover (that is, badog) that would not rely on any electronic parts, or a vehicle that uses a stored energy and chemical energy system ( SCEPS) – aka. a Sterling engine – to conduct an in-situ exploration

All these missions aim to reach Venus and brave its difficult conditions to determine if the planet Earth of the Earth was once a more habitable planet and how it evolved. over time to become the hot and hellish place that it is today.

This article was published by Universe Today. Read the original article.