Balloon precursor mission for Venus Surface Sample Return

This paper proposes a precursor mission to the Venus Surface Sample return Mission (VSSR). The present scenario of the VSSR includes delivery by a balloon of the Venus Ascent Vehicle (VAV) from the surface to an altitude of approximately 60 km, where it can be launched without huge penalty for atmospheric losses. The mission includes a number of critical technologies that can be validated in this proposed precursor mission. The other objective of the proposed mission is to collect more accurate data on the Venus atmosphere that is essential for the VSSR mission design. The paper discusses the basic mission and system elements for the proposed precursor mission.