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SpaceNut

Administrator

From: New Hampshire

Registered: 2004-07-22

Posts: 29,428

Venus Cloud Drone Mission

Deserving of its own topic.

Thanks Void

It is sort of hard to prove or disprove life in the clouds of venus or underground in mars until Nasa or some one very rich wants to fund a mission to explore on the chance of finding that it exists. We can surmize that it will be true as we have seen that extreme life does exist in unexected locations here on earth as well. All of which we are still questioning why life exists at all since it seems such a random coincidence that we got just the right chemicals in all the right orders on the first try.....

Here is a recent reference.  No need to downplay hope.
https://dronedj.com/2018/07/02/nasa-dro … nus-study/
Quote:

NASA’s plan
With the help of drones, NASA plans to fly just above the cloud layer in the upper atmosphere in search of organic material or evidence of such. There is no other information about how the mission will be carried out, but we expect more info to be released once the drone is finished by BST.

The search phrase was:
"NASA Venus Drone".

Goggling research for mission content....

SpaceNut

Administrator

From: New Hampshire

Registered: 2004-07-22

Posts: 29,428

Re: Venus Cloud Drone Mission

Ok standard EDL entry into the upper atmospher with jetisoning the back shell for parachute drag, followed by heat shield and unfolding of the glider to will use updrafts to cycle around venus to explore the atmosphere.

NASA awards contract to study flying drones on Venus

The project will last six months costing the government $125,000 which will cover the full cost of developing the drone.

or https://www.universetoday.com/139564/na … -on-venus/

https://unmanned-aerial.com/nasa-taps-b … ying-venus

NASA has taken a renewed interest in Venus, thanks to climate models that have indicated that it (much like Mars) may have also had liquid water on its surface at one time. This would have likely consisted of a shallow ocean that covered much of the planet's surface roughly 2 billion years ago, before the planet suffered a runaway Greenhouse Effect that left it the hot and hellish world it is today.

NASA's Ames Research Center and Jet Propulsion Laboratory – indicated that there could be microbial life in Venus' cloud tops. As such, there is considerable motivation to send aerial platforms to Venus that would be capable of studying Venus' cloud tops and determining if there are any traces of organic life or indications of the planet's past surface water there

initial link in this post meantion in articles

https://www.northropgrumman.com/Capabil … fault.aspx

However, Venus’ atmosphere’s temperature and pressure, some 50-70 kilometers (30-45 miles) above the surface, are similar to Earth’s temperature and pressure. Scientists believe that studying it will hold the key to understanding what makes Venus’ environment so different and shed light on Earth’s planetary and climate evolution.

We have talked about this specificarea for blimps and cloud cities in the past for a manned pressence in venus orbit as a research platform.

That would mean that solar cell and batteries are employed for power needs for the equipment and communications.

elderflower

Member

Registered: 2016-06-19

Posts: 1,262

Re: Venus Cloud Drone Mission

The Venusians might be annoyed if bits of entry vehicles, defective drones and burst blimps start falling on their heads.

SpaceNut

Administrator

From: New Hampshire

Registered: 2004-07-22

Posts: 29,428

Re: Venus Cloud Drone Mission

I could see some addition science being done if the backshell and heat shield were wired with other atmospheric test gear to radio the measured content back to earth as they become chicken littles sky is falling...
Then again rubbish removal would be quite simple as what is going to survive the crushing pressure and heat at the surface.

tahanson43206

Moderator

Registered: 2018-04-27

Posts: 19,263

Re: Venus Cloud Drone Mission

The article at the link below reports on discussion of raising the prospects for a Venus mission in ongoing mission evaluation.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/nasa-mulls-p … 12637.html

(th)

SpaceNut

Administrator

From: New Hampshire

Registered: 2004-07-22

Posts: 29,428

Re: Venus Cloud Drone Mission

This is due to the recent life indicated news within the sweet pressure zone, for where humans might be able to survive....

tahanson43206

Moderator

Registered: 2018-04-27

Posts: 19,263

Re: Venus Cloud Drone Mission

For SpaceNut .... it would be your option, but recent work on Void's idea of a balloon able to survive in the high temperatures and high pressure at the surface of Venus ** might ** fit into this topic, if you were willing to extend the "cloud" concept to the ground.

Or perhaps a separate topic is where the surface exploration balloon should remain.

(th)

SpaceNut

Administrator

From: New Hampshire

Registered: 2004-07-22

Posts: 29,428

Re: Venus Cloud Drone Mission

This topic started with the exploration of high-altitude life search and that is not an encased sphere that has no means to take in the atmosphere for testing. Since it will take many decades and possibility centuries to be able to get nearer to the surface with men, we are only able to survive in a small area of the planet which at this point needs to free of life forms that could kill man once there.

Could the sphere ball drops be done in the same mission be equalized to that task as lifting device for the equipment needed to stay aloft, sure as it's using those same principles to do so of buoyancy, but the end goals are different.

Void

Member

Registered: 2011-12-29

Posts: 7,773

Re: Venus Cloud Drone Mission

(th) and others, please review this post, "Index» Terraformation» Worlds, and World Engine type terraform stuff." Post #627.  Thanks.

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End

tahanson43206

Moderator

Registered: 2018-04-27

Posts: 19,263

Re: Venus Cloud Drone Mission

For SpaceNut ... as you reminded us in Post #8, this topic started with a cloud environment well above the surface.

(th)

Mars_B4_Moon

Member

Registered: 2006-03-23

Posts: 9,776

Re: Venus Cloud Drone Mission

NASA Prepares to Explore Venus with DAVINCI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdt7PugWe90

The DAVINCI mission will “take the plunge” into Venus’ enigmatic history using an instrumented deep atmosphere probe spacecraft that will carry five instruments for measuring the chemistry and environments throughout the clouds and to the surface, while also conducting the first descent imaging of a mountain system on Venus known as Alpha Regio, which may represent an ancient continent. In addition, the DAVINCI mission includes two science flybys of Venus during which it will search for clues to mystery molecules in the upper cloud deck while also measuring the rock types in some of Venus highland regions.

Last edited by Mars_B4_Moon (2023-03-04 13:11:16)