With temperatures above 900 degrees Fahrenheit and an intense atmospheric pressure, sending humans to the surface of Venus is impossible, but two NASA scientists say going to the planet's clouds is a different story.
Dale Arney and Chris Jones believe that an airship could explore the atmosphere of Venus, The Verge reports, because gravity at 31 miles above the planet is just slightly lower than Earth's and the atmospheric pressure is roughly the same. A helium-filled airship called the High Altitude Venus Operational Concept (HAVOC) would run on solar power and would have to be folded into a spacecraft to make the long journey. (The human crew would follow behind in a separate craft.)
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Scientists find hint of alien life on distant worldSpeed Read NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has detected a possible signature of life on planet K2-18b
-
Katy Perry, Gayle King visit space on Bezos rocketSpeed Read Six well-known women went into lower orbit for 11 minutes
-
Scientists map miles of wiring in mouse brainSpeed Read Researchers have created the 'largest and most detailed wiring diagram of a mammalian brain to date,' said Nature
-
Scientists genetically revive extinct 'dire wolves'Speed Read A 'de-extinction' company has revived the species made popular by HBO's 'Game of Thrones'
-
We could be living in a black holeUnder the radar And our universe may not be the only one
-
Dark energy may not doom the universe, data suggestsSpeed Read The dark energy pushing the universe apart appears to be weakening
-
Pharaoh's tomb discovered for first time in 100 yearsSpeed Read This is the first burial chamber of a pharaoh unearthed since Tutankhamun in 1922
-
Scientists report optimal method to boil an eggSpeed Read It takes two temperatures of water to achieve and no fancy gadgets
