NASA has announced that it is working on a balloon with which the space agency wants to detect tremors on Venus. The first tests were successful with the balloon on the ground, in 2019 tremors can be observed in California.
NASA has consequences of tests using a hot air balloon that can measure tremors. In it, the space agency wrote that it was able to successfully detect earthquakes during aftershocks of an earthquake in California in 2019.
The balloons are equipped with sensitive gauges that can measure changes in air pressure. In this way, NASA also hopes to monitor tremors on Venus in the future. Due to the inhospitable and hot surface of the planet, the search is carried out using balloons.
This wouldn’t be the first time balloons have been launched on Venus. In 1985, the Soviet Union managed to collect data and send it back to Earth using two balloons for 46 hours. These balloons have not been able to detect any earthquakes yet.
NASA has not announced when the balloons will be deployed for the first time on a mission to Venus. The US agency wants to do this between 2028 and 2030 Two more missions Launch to Venus. During these missions, NASA hopes to learn more about how hot Venus is. Especially since planet Earth has a lot in common with Earth.