Skip to main content

NASA aces test of robot balloon that could one day explore Venus

Mars gets a lot of attention from earthlings these days, but recently Venus is coming under the spotlight, with NASA, its European counterpart ESA, and New Zealand spaceflight company Rocket Lab all planning to send missions there in the coming years.

Besides these, NASA is also considering exploring the inhospitable planet by sailing a robotic “aerobot” balloon in the Venusian winds.

JPL’s Venus Aerobot Prototype Aces Test Flights Over Nevada

As part of research for the potential mission, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) recently completed two test flights of an aerobot prototype over Nevada’s Black Rock desert, successfully demonstrating controlled altitude flights in the process.

Sending a spacecraft to Venus is a tricky proposition as its extremely high pressure, intense heat, and corrosive gases would render it useless in just a few hours. But a few dozen miles above the inhospitable zone is an area in which an aerobot would be able to maneuver safely.

“One concept envisions pairing a balloon with a Venus orbiter, the two working in tandem to study Earth’s sister planet,” JPL explains on its website. “While the orbiter would remain far above the atmosphere, taking science measurements and serving as a communication relay, an aerial robotic balloon, or aerobot, about 40 feet (12 meters) in diameter, would travel into it.”

The prototype balloon features a rigid, helium-filled inner reservoir and an outer helium balloon that’s able to expand and contract. Helium vents allow the gas to pass between the inner and outer section, altering buoyancy levels and thereby giving scientists a way to control the altitude of the aerobot.

To test the design, scientists and engineers from JPL and the Near Space Corporation — a commercial provider of high altitude, near-space platforms — conducted two flights to test a prototype balloon about a third of the size of the one that would go to Venus.

The balloon flew 4,000 feet (1 kilometer) to a place in Earth’s atmosphere that’s similar to the density that the aerobot would experience about 180,000 feet (55 kilometers) above Venus, JPL said.

The success of the Nevada tests suggests the aerobot could float high above Venus for weeks or even months, ample time for monitoring the atmosphere for acoustic waves generated by venusquakes and analyzing the chemical composition of the planet’s clouds, among other missions goals, with all of the gathered data beamed back to Earth via the accompanying orbiter.

“We’re extremely happy with the performance of the prototype,” said JPL robotics technologist Jacob Izraelevitz. “It was launched, demonstrated controlled-altitude maneuvers, and was recovered in good condition after both flights.”

Izraelevitz added: “We’ve recorded a mountain of data from these flights and are looking forward to using it to improve our simulation models before exploring our sister planet.”

Balloons have been seen as a viable method for Venus exploration ever since the Soviets successfully used such a design as part of the twin Soviet Vega 1 and 2 missions in 1985. The two helium-filled balloons sailed on the Venusian winds for just over 46 hours before their instruments’ batteries ran out. “Their short time in the Venusian atmosphere provided a tantalizing hint of the science that could be achieved by a larger, longer-duration balloon platform floating within the planet’s atmosphere,” JPL said.

Editors' Recommendations

NASA, SpaceX delay Crew-6 launch to space station
SpaceX's Crew-6 astronauts.

Following a flight readiness review on Tuesday, NASA and SpaceX have decided to delay the Crew-6 launch to the International Space Station by about 24 hours.

The additional time will enable launch personnel to sort out some relatively minor issues with the launch vehicle, officials said.

Read more
NASA and Boeing set date for first crewed test flight of Starliner
The Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft was moved into the Hazardous Processing Area at the company’s Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Feb. 8, 2023, in advance of power up and fueling operations.

NASA has announced it plans to launch the first crewed test flight of the Boeing Starliner capsule this April. The spacecraft has been through a troubled development and testing process but aims to become a second U.S.-based crew transport vehicle along with the SpaceX Crew Dragon.

The Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft was moved into the Hazardous Processing Area at the company’s Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Feb. 8, 2023, in advance of power up and fueling operations. NASA

Read more
NASA’s Lunar Flashlight satellite won’t make it to its planned orbit
This illustration shows NASA’s Lunar Flashlight carrying out a trajectory correction maneuver with the Moon and Earth in the background. Powered by the small satellite’s four thrusters, the maneuver is needed to reach lunar orbit.

This week has seen good news for one NASA moon mission, as the CAPSTONE satellite recovered from a communications issue, but bad news for another. The Lunar Flashlight mission, which is intended to search the south pole of the moon for water ice, now won't make it to its planned orbit.

This illustration shows NASA’s Lunar Flashlight carrying out a trajectory correction maneuver with the Moon and Earth in the background. NASA/JPL-Caltech

Read more