Despite the fact that Mercury is closer to the sun, Venus has been regarded as the hottest planet in the solar system since its temperatures of about 460 degrees Celsius is coupled with carbon dioxide-rich air that has an atmospheric pressure about 90 times that of Earth's. Now, a team of NASA scientists at Glenn Research Center in Cleveland have recently completed a technology demonstration that could potentially enable new scientific missions to the surface of Venus. Experts claimed that they were able to demonstrate the first prolonged operation of electronics in Venus, considering the its harsh conditions.
NASA's Technology Is Now Functional In Venus
In one of his statements reported by Phys Org Online, lead electronics engineer Phil Neudeck has claimed that with further technology development, such electronics is considered to have the ability of drastically improving Venus lander designs and mission concepts, enabling the first long-duration missions to the surface of Venus. As of the press time, current Venus landers can only operate on the planet's surface for a few hours due to the extreme atmospheric conditions. The experts have also added that because commercial electronics don't work in this environment, the electronics on past Venus landers have been protected by thermal and pressure-resistant vessels.
Meanwhile, as per Futurism, despite the fact that many are making preparations regarding Mars missions, some researchers suggest Venus as a potential option for human colonization, supposing that the planet could further be terraformed. Researchers have claimed that these long-overdue missions would be the first step in exploring that possibility.
NASA's Space Mission To Venus
On the other hand, Neudeck said that the team has been able to demonstrate vastly longer electrical operation with chips directly exposed as well as no cooling and no protective chip packaging to a high-fidelity physical and chemical reproduction of Venus' surface atmosphere. Earlier this year, it was found that the team has demonstrated nearly identical silicon carbide integrated circuits for more than 1,000 hours at 900 degrees Fahrenheit in Earth-atmosphere oven testing. Ultimately, principle investigator for Venus surface electronics development, Gary Hunter said that the project does not only enable the potential for new science in extended Venus surface and other planetary exploration, but it is also most likely to generate potentially significant impact for a range of Earth relevant applications, such as in aircraft engines to enable new capabilities, improve operations, and reduce emissions.
