Lighter-than-air spacecraft might one day help explore the clouds of Venus and investigate signs of ancient life on the planet.

Proposed in 2014 by Northrop Grumman, the Venus Atmospheric Maneuverability Platform (VAMP) project would deploy crewed inflatable aircraft from space to skim Venus' upper atmosphere.

Now, a press release from West Virginia University reveals that engineers are developing software to allow spacecraft similar to these to navigate Venus' atmosphere autonomously.

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