In a bid to explore Venus, NASA is working on a clockwork rover modeled from a 2,300-year old Antikythera mechanical computer that could survive extreme temperatures.
The planet Venus is often dubbed as the Earth's evil twin because of its atmospheric pressure that is 90 times stronger than the Earth's with its temperature hitting up to 480 degrees Celsius or 900 degrees Fahrenheit.
In fact, exploration devices that have landed on the planet have been destroyed a few hours after arriving there, with the most durable surviving just 127 minutes.
As the United States and Russia collaborates for a special mission to launch the Venera-D spacecraft in 2025 to study Venus, scientists from NASA are developing a device called the Automaton Rover for Extreme Environments (AREE) based on the ancient Greek Antikythera automaton that accurately predicted past and future astronomical events, according to the Daily Mail.
The futuristic rover, which is built of hardened metals guided by a clockwork computer, will not be operated by electronics but will rely entirely on wind energy generated from its turbine. It would walk on Jansen mechanism legs and is programmed to collect basic data on the conditions of Venus' surface such as wind speed, temperature, and seismic events.
According to Discover Magazine, AREE can collect climate and seismic data from Venus' surface, all recorded on phonograph-style records that periodically would be lifted by a balloon to an overhead drone.
The rover, which was proposed by Jonathan Sauder from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, was developed by a grant through the agency's Innovative Advanced Concepts program.
Sending the machine back to Earth, however, would be a major challenge.
The planet Venus has been a subject of mystery and intrigue for many years with only 10 successful spacecraft landing recorded so far.