Automaton Rover for Extreme Environments

<p>Automaton Rover for Extreme Environments (AREE) is a <a href="/facts/NASA_Innovative_Advanced_Concepts/4hYhDWSK">NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts</a> project to design a rover that can operate in the environment of <a href="/facts/Venus/pADnueP6">Venus</a>, controlled by a wind-powered <a href="/facts/Mechanical_computer/4TvyCu8c">mechanical computer</a>. Venus' atmosphere is about 90 times denser than Earth's and the surface temperature is at least 462 °C (864 °F), conditions which would prevent a standard electronic computer from operating for any significant period of time. While AREE is being designed for operation on Venus, the rover's design could be re-purposed for use on <a href="/facts/Mercury_(planet)/lVa1GIyX">Mercury</a>, which has a comparably high surface temperature, on Jovian moons <a href="/facts/Europa_(moon)/2A9nleK3">Europa</a> or <a href="/facts/Io_(moon)/p3Uc8FmK">Io</a>, where high radiation makes use of traditional electronics difficult, or on lava flows or highly radioactive areas on Earth.
</p><p>The project was first proposed in 2015, and funded by the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts program with a phase-I study in 2016, and a phase-II study from 2017-2018.
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Automaton Rover for Extreme Environments open-in-new

Automaton Rover for Extreme Environments