Venus Deep Atmosphere Ballooning : Scientific Significance and Technological Feasibility

Abstract

As a sub-program for the Venus spacecraft exploration project planning in Japan (the PLANET-B mission), ballooning from an orbiter to the deep atmosphere of Venus has been proposed. The principal objective of this sub-program is focused on elucidation of the origin of a super-rotation (the four-day circulation) of the Venusian atmosphere. An instrumented, metal-skinned, water-vapor-filled and super-pressurized balloon of diameter ≈ 1 m and weight ≈ 10 kg is feasible for Lagrangian wind and temperature observations at the (angular) momentum maximum altitude (≈ 20 km).