Venus is a spacecraft killer and always has been. Because of its hellish conditions, NASA JPL engineers are designing a new type of rover that could finally explore our mysterious neighbor.

» Subscribe to Seeker! http://bit.ly/subscribeseeker
(then hit the little 🔔 icon and select “all.”)
» Watch more Focal Point | https://bit.ly/2s0cf7w
» Visit our shop at http://shop.seeker.com

These wind-powered mechanical creations can walk, store energy, and even react to their environment. These creatures are awesome and amazing in the way they operate, and that it’s all through a mechanical system that you can see and observe…

If it was up to this NASA JPL engineer, these self-propelled creatures would be exploring one of the most mysterious planets in our solar system… Venus is the exoplanet in our own backyard.

The really important reason for going to Venus is to complete our picture of terrestrial planets with atmospheres in our own solar system so that we know which planets in other star systems could potentially harbor life.

We just need to find a way to survive Venus’ unforgiving environment, where lead melts and most electronics are destroyed before even touching the ground.

#venus #venusrover #seeker #focalpoint

Read More:
The Steampunk Rover Concept That Could Help Explore Venus
https://www.wired.com/story/the-steam…
“50 years after the first spacecraft touched down on our super hot neighbor (and promptly died), NASA has a plan for a tougher mechanical lander.”

NASA Selects 2 Missions to Study ‘Lost Habitable’ World of Venus
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/na…
“NASA has selected two new missions to Venus, Earth’s nearest planetary neighbor. Part of NASA’s Discovery Program, the missions aim to understand how Venus became an inferno-like world when it has so many other characteristics similar to ours – and may have been the first habitable world in the solar system, complete with an ocean and Earth-like climate.”

NASA to Explore Divergent Fate of Earth’s Mysterious Twin with Goddard’s DAVINCI+
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/…
“The science impact of DAVINCI+ will reach even beyond the solar system to Venus-like planets orbiting other stars (exoplanets), which are expected to be common and will represent important targets for NASA’s upcoming James Webb Space Telescope. But these planets may be difficult to interpret, especially if they are enveloped in thick Venus-like clouds.”

NASA’s Venus Rover Challenge Winners Announced
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nasa…
“But how would such a machine navigate the terrain without advanced electronic sensors? That was the question behind NASA’s “Exploring Hell: Avoiding Obstacles on a Clockwork Rover” challenge.”
______________

[…]