Venus is far hotter than Earth, at around 462 degrees Celsius, and an atmospheric pressure over 92 times greater. It's also got huge volcanoes and an acidic cloud layer. Even probes that have been sent to the planet have burnt up and died shortly after arriving.
So instead, scientists at the Nasa Langley Researcher Center have proposed an alternative — a city in the clouds, built using huge balloons that look like passenger airships. They would carry two astronauts on a 30-day mission to explore the planet.
The project, named High Altitude Venus Operational Concept, or Havoc, is just a proposal at the moment, designed by the Systems Analysis and Concepts Directorate (SACD) at the centre. But the centre hopes to keep working on it until it is ready to actually take astronauts to the planet, or just off it.
While the conditions on Venus keep humans from venturing down there, staying about 30 miles above the planet would keep astronauts in conditions mostly similar to Earth. The atmospheric pressure is comparable, and gravity is just slightly lower. The temperature is warm but the ship would be able to keep the astronauts cool enough.
Clouds on Venus
The challenges for the mission would be getting the airship to Venus — and then, since it will be wrapped up, inflating it there. Before it is used scientists will also have to be confident that the ship and the solar panels that will power it can withstand the sulphuric acid in the atmosphere and the other strain it will be put under while it floats above the planet.
But if they can work on the technology, "missions to the Venusian atmosphere can expand humanity's future in space", the SACD says.
via Science - Google News http://ift.tt/13rpcVI
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