Firstly, the space agency must develop a battery that can withstand Venus' hellish conditions.
The Soviet Venera missions, for example, transmitted the first-ever image from another planet on October 20, 1975, after sending its Venera 9 lander to the surface of Venus.
That mission lasted less than two hours on the planet's surface due to the immense atmospheric pressure and scorching temperatures on Earth's so-called evil twin.Now, NASA aims to build a lander called LLISSE, that can withstand those conditions and beam a wealth of data about our nearest planetary neighbor back to Earth. To do so, it will have to build a battery capable of withstanding incredibly harsh conditions.Sending a lander to Venus does have one advantage.
in early 2021, Venus' atmosphere is so thick that a lander would gently descend to the surface without the need for retrorockets.Average temperatures on Venus' surface stand at 455 degrees C , which is hot enough to melt lead. The atmospheric pressure on the planet's surface is roughly equivalent to being at an ocean depth of 1,500 meters . If that weren't enough, chemicals in the atmosphere, including sulphuric acid, will quickly corrode any electronic parts.
NASA has been working on a solution with a company called Advanced Thermal Batteries, Inc. . Together, the two organizations developed the first battery that they believed could withstand Venus' temperatures for an entire Venus day — a Venus day is equivalent to approximately 120 Earth days. The battery uses a technology based on short-lived thermal battery systems to power intelligent missiles. It contains 17 individual cells and is built with structural materials and specific chemistry to withstand conditions on Venus.The battery developers will utilize the scorching conditions on Venus to their advantage. The incredibly high temperatures on the planet's surface will heat a specially-selected electrolyte that would otherwise be solid and inert at ambient temperatures on Earth.
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