NASA would like to send a nuclear-powered rover to the surface of Venus -- a place hot enough to melt lead.
As part of its Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts (RASC) program, NASA Glenn Research Center imagines using solar-powered airplanes to fly around the planet to relay the rover's weak signals to an orbiting spacecraft.
A Stirling engine would cool down sensitive electronics in the rover, and the device would be powered by nuclear batteries fueled with the radioactive isotope plutonium-238.
Video: NASA
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