NASA selects a sample return mission to Venus

In Dante Alighieri’s epic poem The Divine Comedy, the well-known phrases “Abandon all hope, ye who enter right here” adorn the gates of hell. Curiously sufficient, Dante’s imaginative and prescient of hell is an apt description of what circumstances are like on Venus. With a median temperature of 450°C (842°F), atmospheric pressures 92 instances that of Earth, and clouds of sulfuric acid rain as well, Venus is essentially the most hostile atmosphere within the solar system. It’s little surprise why space businesses, going all the way in which again to the start of the Area Age, have had such a tough time exploring Venus’ environment.

Regardless of that, there are a lot of proposals for missions that would survive Venus’ hellish atmosphere lengthy sufficient to perform a pattern return mission. One such proposal, the Sample Return from the Surface of Venus, comes from aerospace engineer and writer Geoffrey Landis and his colleagues on the NASA Glenn Analysis Heart. Their proposed idea was chosen for this yr’s NASA Revolutionary Superior Ideas (NIAC) program. It consists of a solar-powered aircraft that might vogue propellant straight from Venus’ environment and deploy a sample-return rover to the surface.

The idea of a solar-powered airplane exploring Venus is one Landis and his colleagues have been creating for roughly 20 years. In his first paper, launched in 2001, “Exploring Venus by Photo voltaic Airplane,” Landis indicated how a solar-powered airplane may safely discover above the cloud deck on Venus—roughly 60 km (37 mi) above the floor. At this altitude, he claimed, the solar depth is “similar to or larger than terrestrial solar intensities,” and the atmospheric pressure makes flight simpler than on Mars.

He additionally famous how Venus’s gradual rotation would be sure that the airplane can be uncovered to steady daylight and would not require saved power for night-time flight. In a paper launched in 2003, “Atmospheric Flight on Venus: A Conceptual Design,” Landis and colleagues from NASA Glenn and the College of Illinois shared specs for a possible fleet of solar-powered plane. Two years later, this was adopted by “Venus atmospheric exploration by solar plane” in 2005, the place Landis and these similar colleagues advocated for a mission to discover Venus’ environment 50 to 75 km (31 to 47 mi) from the floor.

This area is a part of Venus’ “center environment,” the place temperatures vary from -100°C (-148°F) to about 30–70°C (86–158°F), and publicity to sulfuric acid rain can be minimal. What’s extra, because of Venus’ gradual rotational interval (243 days), a solar-powered plane flying above the cloud deck would even be uncovered to perennial daylight. As Landis instructed Universe At the moment by way of e mail:

“The center environment of Venus is sort of essentially the most unknown area of the planet, and easily flying an airplane on this area may result in some fascinating science. Plane have the benefit that they’ve full management over flight; you go the place you wish to go, not the place the wind sends you. For the pattern return, the airplane offers us the choice to do a managed rendezvous with the return rocket.”

In a subsequent paper launched in 2004, “Robotic Exploration of the Floor and Ambiance of Venus,” Landis offered a mission structure that included each surface robots and a solar-powered airplane. Whereas the robots would discover the floor for 50 days (their full lifetime), the plane would probe Venus’ environment between 100 km (62 miles) and 60 km (37 mi) above the floor—i.e., simply above the cloud deck. From this level onward, Landis and his colleagues at NASA’s Glenn started to think about how advances in supplies science would allow a mission to the floor.

In 2008, Landis and his group presented their concept to NASA’s Science and Expertise Definition Staff (STDT) for Venus. As they revealed, the idea would have a wingspan of 9 meters (29.5 ft) and measure 7 m (23 ft) lengthy, with a foldable design that might permit it to suit inside an aeroshell. The plane would unfold as soon as it reached Venus and would have many benefits over different airborne ideas—corresponding to balloons and solar-powered airships. A number of research by Landis and his group adopted, and the design has advanced with time.

Suffice it to say the idea has advanced significantly over the previous 20 years and owes its existence to many alternative sources. In its newest model, which was chosen for Part I NIAC improvement, the plane depends on carbon monoxide rocket know-how and generates its personal propellant straight from Venus’ environment. As Landis instructed Universe At the moment, this idea remains to be in keeping with the unique concept and will allow the primary sample-return mission from Venus:

“[T]he first paper I did, Venus airplanes, was again in 2001, after we have been nonetheless hoping it could be thrilling to have fun the centenary of the Wright Flyer with the primary flight on one other planet. The solar airplanes we checked out up to now, although, have been for flight within the higher environment, not within the scorching near-surface environment. However high-temperature electronics are being developed at NASA Glenn and elsewhere, and it was affordable to begin considering whether or not it is attainable to truly fly all the way in which to the floor and again up.”

“Individually, we have been in-situ propellant manufacturing for different missions, and I began considering, the place else may we expect to use in-situ propellant manufacturing that hasn’t already been analyzed, and significantly, the place may it make an actual distinction in an in any other case almost unimaginable mission?” mentioned Landis. “The Venus pattern return stemmed from that sort of considering.”

The plane can be paired with a floor aspect that takes benefit of high-temperature floor programs. As explored in earlier articles, scientists have spent years engaged on ideas that would function in Venus’ hellish atmosphere. This has led to a various vary of proposals that incorporate “steampunk” know-how, a wind sail, or particular digital programs that may face up to the acute warmth and strain of Venus’ environment. As well as, the plane may additionally receive atmospheric samples, maybe settling the controversy on whether or not there might be life in Venus’ clouds.

“For the floor pattern, this may be primarily a geology and mineralogy mission,” mentioned Landis. “An atmospheric pattern would even have great scientific worth for astrobiology and can be a superb stepping stone to the harder floor pattern mission. The current discovery of phosphine within the clouds of Venus makes the thought of a cloud sampler much more thrilling.”

With Part I funding secured, Landis and his colleagues are actually centered on turning the conceptual mission structure into detailed designs. As Landis defined, this can encompass a step-by-step idea of operations (CONOPS), the place all of the mission parts shall be mixed to create a mass finances, produce some onerous numbers, and present that it’s possible. Seeking to the long run, Landis and his colleagues hope that their proposal will result in functions for aerial autos and exploration that go far past Venus and Mars:

“I do assume that the subsequent large step in planetary exploration, pioneered by the Mars “Perception’ helicopter, is flight. In-situ useful resource utilization, though talked about extensively, has but to be tried on any solar system physique (apart from Earth). Placing these collectively ought to open doorways to the exploration of many planetary our bodies.”

To study extra, take a look at the total record of NASA’s NIAC 2024 selections here.