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The longest lasting robot on Venus was Venera 12, which lasted 110 minutes. Venus is hard because it melts electronic circuits. On Mars, you just need a heating
by roywiggins 7y ago
The longest lasting robot on Venus was Venera 12, which lasted 110 minutes. Venus is hard because it melts electronic circuits. On Mars, you just need a heating element to stop yourself freezing.
(if you can make something work in a vacuum, it will probably work just fine on Mars. And we have lots of experience working in vacuum!)
- gene-h 7y agoThe Venera landers stopped functioning because the solder in their circuits melted. Higher temperature solder could have been used preventing this problem, but the key issue is that silicon no longer functions as a semiconductor at these temperatures. Silicon carbide still works as one though and we're now starting to see silicon carbide electronic circuits and foundry processes to make them.