NASA May Send a 'Sailboat on Wheels' to Venus

Venus is like Earth's dizygotic twin — similar in size, gravity and terrestrial makeup. But our solar sibling also has a defining dissimilarity: It's hot as hell.

With an atmospheric pressure 92 times that of Earth's, the second planet from the Sun is shrouded in dense clouds of sulfuric acid. And if you do manage to break through its annihilating atmosphere, its surface temperature is hotter than an oven set to broil. Taking all that into account, landing (and maintaining) a rover on Venus is seemingly impossible.

That doesn't mean we won't try.

NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts program is funding research into a new landsailing rover, dubbed the "Zephyr." Unlike the rovers we've successfully landed on Mars, Zephyr would use wind force to generate power, similar to the very basic functions of a sail Read more...