From to the deep oceans to distant alien worlds, exploring new territories often relies on the capabilities of advanced technology to go where no human can survive
But some environments, such as Venus, are too hostile even for machines, whose sensitive electronic systems cannot withstand the extreme heat, high pressure, and clouds of sulfuric acid.
The longest amount of time that a spacecraft has survived on the surface of Venus is 127 minutes. On March 1, 1982, the USSR’s Venera 13 probe parachuted to a gentle landing and managed to keep operating for just over two hours by hiding all of its computers inside of a hermetically sealed titanium pressure vessel that was pre-cooled in orbit. The surface temperature on Venus averages 464 °C (867 °F), which is hotter than the surface of Mercury (the closest planet to the sun), and hot enough that conventional electronics simply will not work.
A conventional approach to a Venus rover like this is difficult, expensive, and potentially dangerous, but a team of engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), in Pasadena, Calif., have come up with an innovative new idea for exploring the surface of Venus. If the problem is the electronics, why not just get rid of them, and build a mechanical rover instead?
To work around these limitations, scientists are developing a device where ‘steampunk science fiction meets spacecraft technology,’ tapping into the design of a 2,000-year-old mechanical computer.
The Automaton Rover for Extreme Environments (AREE) pulls inspiration from the ancient Greek Antikythera automaton – a mechanical computer built 2,300 years ago that accurately predicted past and future astronomical events.
So far, landers that have been subjected to the harsh conditions on Venus have died within hours of arriving there, with even the most durable surviving just 127 minutes.
Using a clockwork computer and a body made from hardened metals, the AREE could be strong enough to take on the 800 degree Fahrenheit surface temperatures of Earth’s ‘evil twin’ Venus, according to Discover Magazine.
The rover was proposed last year by engineer Jonathan Sauder rom NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and recently received a grant through the agency’s Innovative Advanced Concepts program.
This rover would operate without electronics, relying on wind energy harvested from its turbine. The Russians used a mechanical computer called Globus for positional calculations on their spacecraft up until 2002, but in general, everything is now going electronic. This is fine and good, except for on Venus, where most electronics are impractical.
It would walk on Jansen mechanism legs, guided by a mechanical computer and logic system that’s programmed for its mission. This would allow it to collect basic data on the conditions at Venus’ surface, including wind speed, temperature, and seismic events.
But, sending the data back to Earth will be a challenge.
The researchers have proposed a number of possible options to do this, including the use of phonograph-style records that would be launched by a balloon to a high altitude drone.
They also suggest using a retroreflecter to bounce signals from the surface.
‘Automata could be the key for unlocking the secrets for some of the most extreme environments in the solar system such as the surface of Venus,’ the proposal explained.
And, this type of system means ‘the rover would survive for weeks if not months, allowing it to collect and return valuable long term longitudinal science data from the surface of Venus.
‘This science data is critical for informing models of dynamic planetary systems.'
Late last year, NASA announced HOTTech, the Hot Operating Temperature Technology Program, which is providing funding to support “the advanced development of technologies for the robotic exploration of high-temperature environments … with temperatures approaching 500 degrees Celsius or higher.”
The AREE team hopes that HOTTech will result in some science instruments that will be able to survive on their rover, although if not, they also have some ideas for a few interesting ways of doing science without any electronics. These include measuring wind speed from a wind turbine, temperature and pressure from thermally expanding materials, and chemical properties from rods that react to certain desired chemicals.
The technology that’s being developed for AREE has applications elsewhere in the solar system, and not just in high radiation environments like Jupiter’s moon Europa. Right here on Earth, AREE could be useful for taking samples from very close to an active volcano, or from within highly radioactive environments. Another advantage of AREE is that it can be completely sterilized at a very high temperature without affecting its functionality. If, say, you find a lake under the icecap on Mars with some weird tentacle-y things swimming around in it, you could send a send in a sterilized AREE to collect a sample without worrying about contamination.