NASA wants to send a giant silver balloon to the hellish world of Venus, where the floating robot would explore the toxic Venusian atmosphere. Functional tests of a smaller prototype recently took place in a Nevada desert in preparation for this upcoming mission to the solar system's inferno.
The prototype of the aerial robotic balloon, or aerobot, just completed two successful test flights above the Black Rock Desert in Nevada. A team of scientists and engineers from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory watched from below as the shimmery balloon flew at an altitude of about 4,000 feet (1,000 meters). Conditions in this part of Earth's atmosphere are somewhat similar to conditions found on Venus, but at heights reaching 180,000 feet (55 kilometers) above its scorched surface.
[...] The team behind the aerobot balloon designed it with multilayered material that includes an acid-proof coating, a metallization layer to reduce solar heating, and a rigid inner layer that makes it capable of carrying science instruments, according to NASA. [...]
It's also not just one balloon—it's more of a "balloon within a balloon" design. A rigid inner reservoir is filled with helium under high pressure, which gets tucked inside a larger outer helium balloon that can expand and contract. [...]
This isn't the first time scientists will have sent a balloon to Venus. In 1985, the Soviet Union's twin Vega 1 and 2 probes, consisting of balloons and landers, arrived at the planet, but they only lasted for about 46 hours owing to limited battery life. The aerobot mission should last longer.
[...] NASA hasn't sent a dedicated probe to Venus since the Magellan program, which arrived at the planet in 1989. Later this decade, however, NASA's DAVINCI probe will head to Venus, where it will plunge through Venus's atmosphere before landing on its surface. DAVINCI is one of three upcoming Venus missions, with the super-hot planet finally getting the attention it deserves—with our apologies to Mars fans.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by khallow on Monday October 17 2022, @04:34AM
The balloon within a balloon is an interesting way to store helium, but not the only way. Others are pressurized tanks or cryogenic dewars (basically a vacuum insulated thermos bottle). Helium dewars on Earth are really complicated affairs with the liquid helium (which has to be stored a couple of degrees above absolute zero) stored inside a liquid nitrogen dewar. With the massive solar influx on the vehicle, it's just not viable for mass reasons alone.
A pressurized tank is a possibility. I gather the idea is that a pressurized balloon still displaces atmosphere. Perhaps it allows for some sort of short term mission even if they lose the outer balloon altogether? But it's cheap, light, and doesn't poke holes. While a small, dense tank would be potentially a mission ender, if it moves around too much in the balloon.
Anyway, the two big advantages of bringing helium storage along is that it prolongs the life of the mission as noted above and allows for altitude control. If you descend and want to rise, you'll need more helium.
(Score: 2) by oumuamua on Monday October 17 2022, @06:09PM (1 child)
Someone already did this a few years before in the same location!
https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/how-bjarke-ingels-mirrored-orb-became-burning-man-dust-ball [architecturaldigest.com]
(Score: 2) by legont on Monday October 17 2022, @11:04PM
Quite a few years back albeit at different location https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vega_program#Balloon [wikipedia.org]
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.