page_title: Observations and explorations of Venus
section_title: Proposals
hierarchical_section_title: Observations and explorations of Venus / Timeline of Venus exploration / Proposals
caption_attribution_description: English: NASA - Wind Powered Venus Rover - artist concept - February 21, 2020 https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=7604 An illustration of a concept for a possible wind-powered Venus rover.
context_page_description: Observations of the planet Venus include those in antiquity, telescopic observations, and from visiting spacecraft. Spacecraft have performed various flybys, orbits, and landings on Venus, including balloon probes that floated in the atmosphere of Venus. Study of the planet is aided by its relatively close proximity to the Earth, compared to other planets, but the surface of Venus is obscured by an atmosphere opaque to visible light.
context_section_description: To overcome the high pressure and temperature at the surface, a team led by Geoffrey Landis of NASA's Glenn Research Center produced a concept in 2007 of a solar-powered aircraft that would to control a resistant surface rover on the ground. The aircraft would carry the mission's sensitive electronics in the relatively mild temperatures of Venus' upper atmosphere. Another concept from 2007 suggests to equip a rover with a Stirling cooler powered by a nuclear power source to keep an electronics package at an operational temperature of about 200 °C (392 °F).
  In 2020 NASA's JPL launched an open competition, titled "Exploring Hell: Avoiding Obstacles on a Clockwork Rover", to design a sensor that could work on Venus's surface.
  Other examples of mission concepts and proposals include:
caption: NASA - Wind-powered Venus rover
  (artist concept; 21 February 2020)[32]
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