NASA gets closer to Venus mission with successful robo-balloon test

NASA wants to send a giant silver balloon to the infernal world of Venus, where the levitating robot would explore Venus’s toxic atmosphere. Functional testing of a smaller prototype took place recently in a Nevada desert in preparation for this upcoming mission to the solar system’s inferno.

The prototype of the flying robotic balloon, or aerobot, has just completed two successful test flights over Nevada’s Black Rock Desert. A team of scientists and engineers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory watched from below as the shimmering balloon flew at an altitude of about 1,000 meters. Conditions in this part of Earth’s atmosphere are somewhat similar to conditions on Venus, but at altitudes of up to 55 kilometers above its burned surface.

“The success of these test flights is a big thing for us: we have successfully demonstrated the technology we need to study the clouds of Venus,” Paul Byrne, associate professor at Washington University in St. Louis and fellow Aerobot Science , said in a statement. “These tests lay the foundation for how we can achieve long-term robotic exploration high above the infernal surface of Venus.”

Venus is basically Earth’s evil twin. The neighboring planets share an analogous past as two rocky worlds of similar size and density, but Venus now exhibits extreme conditions that make it inhospitable to probes. The planet’s average temperature is over 450 degrees Celsius, with a volcanic landscape and a carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere. Venus’ atmosphere is also full of thick clouds of sulfuric acid, making it almost impossible for spacecraft to image the planet’s surface.

The team behind the Aerobot balloon designed it with multi-layered material that includes an acid-resistant coating, a layer of metallization to reduce solar radiation, and a rigid inner layer that NASA says enables it to carry scientific instruments. “The materials used to make Venus survivable are difficult to manufacture, and the robustness of handling we’ve demonstrated during launch and recovery in Nevada gives us confidence in the balloon’s reliability on Venus,” says Tim Lachenmeier, chief executive officer of Near Space Corporation and co-investigator for the mission concept, said in a statement. Near Space built the balloon using techniques it uses to make aerospace inflatable boats on Earth.

It’s not just a balloon either – it’s more of a “balloon within a balloon” design. A rigid inner reservoir is filled under high pressure with helium, which is placed inside a larger outer helium balloon, which is allowed to expand and contract. This design allows the balloon to change altitude while passing through the Venusian atmosphere; The Aerobot pumps helium into the outer balloon to give it more lift, then pumps it back into the reservoir to reduce its altitude. The prototype is three times smaller than the final product destined for Venus.

The Aerobot will not be alone during the mission. An accompanying orbiter will perform scientific measurements and relay data between the balloon and ground controllers on Earth. The pair will observe Venus for about 100 days, analyzing cloud chemistry and monitoring the atmosphere for sound waves caused by Venusquakes.

The team prepared the Aerobot balloon for launch. (Photo: Near Space Corporation)

This isn’t the first time scientists have sent a balloon to Venus. In 1985, the Soviet Union’s twin probes Vega 1 and 2, consisting of balloons and landers, reached the planet, but they only lasted about 46 hours due to limited battery life. The Aerobot mission is said to last longer.

“We’ve recorded a mountain of data on these flights and look forward to using them to improve our simulation models before we explore our sister planet,” robotics technologist Jacob Izraelevitz, who is JPL principal investigator on the flight tests leading balloon development, said in a statement.

NASA has not sent a dedicated probe to Venus since the Magellan program that arrived on the planet in 1989. Later this decade, however, NASA’s DAVINCI probe will fly to Venus, where it will plummet through Venus’ atmosphere before landing on its surface. DAVINCI is one of three upcoming Venus missions that will see the super-hot planet finally getting the attention it deserves – our apologies to Mars fans.

More: NASA’s DAVINCI mission will plummet through Venus’ infernal atmosphere