4 ms·

Certainly not any time soon. A rover has a lot of complicated moving parts that will have to be exposed to work properly, and will almost certainly fail after a

Certainly not any time soon. A rover has a lot of complicated moving parts that will have to be exposed to work properly, and will almost certainly fail after a short time on the surface. All of the sensors will also have to be exposed, and the interface between the sensors and the enclosure will be vulnerable. A lander may work for some time, but a rover would be very difficult. Venus is a very, very harsh place.

Animats 10y ago
So is the drilling end of an oil well, but there are sensors and motors for that.[1] "The heavy duty motor range is designed to withstand temperatures over 240°C at pressures up to 1,733 atmospheres. They can withstand vibrations to 25 Grms, impacts to 100 G." A 2005 study indicates how to get motors to run at up to 500°C, which is above what's needed for Venus.[2] Power systems for a Venus lander have been studied by NASA.[2] Sodium-sulfur batteries, which need to be hot to work at all, were considered. [1] http://www.maxonmotorusa.com/maxon/view/application/Brushless-DC-motors-for-down-hole-and-directional-drilling http://www.maxonmotorusa.com/maxon/view/application/Brushles... [2] https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20140017762.pdf https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/201400... [2] http://www.firstmarkaerospace.com/pdf/vhtmotors.pdf http://www.firstmarkaerospace.com/pdf/vhtmotors.pdf
- masklinn 10y ago
  > The heavy duty motor range is designed to withstand temperatures over 240°C Venus is twice that, and the atmosphere is highly corrosive, though I guess you get the benefit of lower pressure (~90 atm).
  - gene-h 10y ago
    NASA has successfully tested electric motors at venusian ambient conditions[0]. Also, the atmosphere isn't corrosive at the surface. It's much too hot for sulfuric acid there. [0]http://www.techbriefs.com/component/content/article/ntb/tech-briefs/mechanics-and-machinery/2241 http://www.techbriefs.com/component/content/article/ntb/tech...
Apocryphon 10y ago
We could send some weather balloons, at least.
- Sir_Cmpwn 10y ago
  Hopefully weather balloons that can withstand the perpetual hurricane force winds and sulfuric acid rain.
  - pavel_lishin 10y ago
    The wind is apparently not too bad at the surface: > Winds at the surface are slow, moving at a few kilometres per hour, but because of the high density of the atmosphere at the surface, they exert a significant amount of force against obstructions, and transport dust and small stones across the surface † So maybe we could send some probes that would hover above the surface. Disposable instruments could be shielded behind covers, and only exposed once a sample was ready to be collected and analyzed, and then discarded or written off. Since the atmosphere is dense, maybe a nuclear-powered hover-rover would be plausible, since it would be almost more like swimming than floating. Maybe an anchor could be dragged behind it to ensure that it doesn't get flung around too badly. †https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus#Atmosphere_and_climate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus#Atmosphere_and_climate
    - rtkwe 10y ago
      The issue with using a thermoelectric nuclear generator like the one on Curiosity is that there's nowhere to dump the heat. RTGs are all based on thermocouples to generate their power which requires a temperature delta between the RTG interior and exterior which is hard given the extreme temperatures of Venus. Maybe one based on thermovoltaic cells would work but those haven't been tried with RTGs yet. Wind might be the best bet. Turn one of the dangers into a power source at least, designing one that would work for a long time in those conditions wouldn't be easy but maybe.
      - Arizhel 10y ago

Animats 10y ago

So is the drilling end of an oil well, but there are sensors and motors for that.[1] "The heavy duty motor range is designed to withstand temperatures over 240°C at pressures up to 1,733 atmospheres. They can withstand vibrations to 25 Grms, impacts to 100 G." A 2005 study indicates how to get motors to run at up to 500°C, which is above what's needed for Venus.[2] Power systems for a Venus lander have been studied by NASA.[2] Sodium-sulfur batteries, which need to be hot to work at all, were considered. [1] http://www.maxonmotorusa.com/maxon/view/application/Brushless-DC-motors-for-down-hole-and-directional-drilling http://www.maxonmotorusa.com/maxon/view/application/Brushles... [2] https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20140017762.pdf https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/201400... [2] http://www.firstmarkaerospace.com/pdf/vhtmotors.pdf http://www.firstmarkaerospace.com/pdf/vhtmotors.pdf

masklinn 10y ago
> The heavy duty motor range is designed to withstand temperatures over 240°C Venus is twice that, and the atmosphere is highly corrosive, though I guess you get the benefit of lower pressure (~90 atm).
- gene-h 10y ago
  NASA has successfully tested electric motors at venusian ambient conditions[0]. Also, the atmosphere isn't corrosive at the surface. It's much too hot for sulfuric acid there. [0]http://www.techbriefs.com/component/content/article/ntb/tech-briefs/mechanics-and-machinery/2241 http://www.techbriefs.com/component/content/article/ntb/tech...

Apocryphon 10y ago

We could send some weather balloons, at least.

Sir_Cmpwn 10y ago
Hopefully weather balloons that can withstand the perpetual hurricane force winds and sulfuric acid rain.
- pavel_lishin 10y ago
  The wind is apparently not too bad at the surface: > Winds at the surface are slow, moving at a few kilometres per hour, but because of the high density of the atmosphere at the surface, they exert a significant amount of force against obstructions, and transport dust and small stones across the surface † So maybe we could send some probes that would hover above the surface. Disposable instruments could be shielded behind covers, and only exposed once a sample was ready to be collected and analyzed, and then discarded or written off. Since the atmosphere is dense, maybe a nuclear-powered hover-rover would be plausible, since it would be almost more like swimming than floating. Maybe an anchor could be dragged behind it to ensure that it doesn't get flung around too badly. †https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus#Atmosphere_and_climate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus#Atmosphere_and_climate
  - rtkwe 10y ago
    The issue with using a thermoelectric nuclear generator like the one on Curiosity is that there's nowhere to dump the heat. RTGs are all based on thermocouples to generate their power which requires a temperature delta between the RTG interior and exterior which is hard given the extreme temperatures of Venus. Maybe one based on thermovoltaic cells would work but those haven't been tried with RTGs yet. Wind might be the best bet. Turn one of the dangers into a power source at least, designing one that would work for a long time in those conditions wouldn't be easy but maybe.
    - Arizhel 10y ago