DRONES FLOATING ON THE CLOUDS OF VENUS
With renewed interest in 'Earth's evil twin' once again, companies are uniting to create a craft that can examine the planet up-close
Plans are slowly falling into place to explore Venus in a new and innovative way using a hard-shelled drone to swoop over the thick cloud tops, with the aim to learn about the planet’s past and present. Although Venus has always been regarded as an inhospitable environment, given that it is the hottest world in the Solar System with surface temperatures of 465 degrees Celsius (869 degrees Fahrenheit), recent research has turned a lot of scientists’ attention back in the direction of our planet's 'evil twin'.
Although the surface temperature of the planet is hot enough to melt lead, recent findings have revealed some interesting theories about its past. It is thought that once upon a time, Venus had a liquid ocean that covered 60 per cent of the planet and was present for approximately two billion years. Looking into the clouds, life as we know it could be more favourable because of its ideal pressures and temperatures, and that’s where NASA and its new partner company Black Swift Technologies are planning to venture.
Black Swift Technologies is an engineering firm based in Boulder, Colorado, United States, which specialises in small, unmanned aircraft systems. It has been dealt the difficult task of constructing a drone capable of surviving the dangers of Venus’ upper atmosphere. If in six months’ time its design is up to scratch, NASA will award it with a lucrative contract that will allow it to bring the drone to life. NASA has already awarded the company an initial six-month contract just for the design, which includes a £94,750 ($125,000) grant by the federal government’s Small Business Innovation Research program.
The prefatory plans seem extremely promising; the company has already outlined that it wishes to take its knowledge and experience of making unmanned aircraft that can survive in storms on Earth and apply that to the Venus drone. It has also outlined its ambition to harness the power of Venus’ upper atmosphere, which contains clouds of sulphuric acid and could also support the presence of microorganisms in the form of extremophiles – microorganisms that thrive in extreme environments. Although this is a long shot there is little evidence to confirm or disapprove this idea, giving more incentive to send a drone to find out more.
The potential of this mission is revolutionary in terms of studying our neighbouring planet, which is roughly the same size as Earth but incredibly heated up due to its atmospheric build-up of greenhouse gases. The drone could peer through the clouds and reveal the surface that is littered with volcanoes to help us understand its true evolution and current state.