Exploring Venus by solar airplane (original) (raw)
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Space Technology and Applications International Forum - 2001
11-14 Feb 2001
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Research Article| February 02 2001
NASA John Glenn Research Center, mailstop 302-1, 21000 Brookpark Road, Cleveland, Ohio 44135
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AIP Conf. Proc. 552, 16–18 (2001)
A solar-powered airplane is proposed to explore the atmospheric environment of Venus. Venus has several advantages for a solar airplane. At the top of the cloud level, the solar intensity is comparable to or greater than terrestrial solar intensities. The Earthlike atmospheric pressure means that the power required for flight is lower for Venus than that of Mars, and the slow rotation of Venus allows an airplane to be designed for continuous sunlight, with no energy storage needed for night-time flight. These factors mean that Venus is perhaps the easiest planet in the solar system for flight of a long-duration solar airplane.
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© 2001 American Institute of Physics.
2001
American Institute of Physics
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