News: NASA’s Space Mission Analysis Branch has unveiled a analysis project to send astronauts to Venus, envisioning “lighter-than-air” pods that could hover above the clouds to house explorers.
Published on a NASA website, a film and an accompanying image show a conceptual design and style for inflatable silver blimp-like air balloons for functioning and living that would home two astronauts for up to a month in the upper atmosphere of the planet Venus.
“A current internal NASA study of a Higher Altitude Venus Operational Notion (HAVOC) led to the development of an evolutionary program for the exploration of Venus, with concentrate on the mission architecture and car idea for a 30 day crewed mission into Venus’s atmosphere,” stated a statement from NASA’s Space Mission Analysis Branch (SMAB).
“A lighter-than-air automobile can carry either a host of instruments and probes, or a habitat and ascent car for a crew of two astronauts to explore Venus for up to a month.”
According to the American space agency, a mission to Venus would call for much less time than a related manned mission to Mars.
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It also stated the mission would be simpler as the planet’s atmosphere is “comparatively benign” with comparable gravity, stress and density to Earth.
“The atmosphere of Venus is an thrilling location for both additional scientific study and future human exploration,” stated SMAB.
“Essential technical challenges for the mission incorporate performing the aerocapture manoeuvres at Venus and Earth, inserting and inflating the airship at Venus, and guarding the solar panels and structure from the sulphuric acid in the atmosphere.”
NASA stated that there would want to be “advances in technology” and “additional refinement” of the notion ahead of it could truly proceed.
To date, there has not be a successful manned mission to an additional planet. The moon remains the only natural satellite man has set foot on.
Earlier this year, NASA revealed it had managed to generate the very first 3D-printed object in space, with a machine on the International Space Station. It is now 3D-printing tools for use on the station.
A quantity of designers have created concepts for further-terrestrial adventures, like London firm Priestmangoode – who designed a capsule that will float tourists to the edge of space – and ZA Architects, who proposed sending robots to Mars to develop caves for human habitation.
