A new way to see the sights on Mars (Image: NASA/JPL)
A BALLOON drifts gently on the breeze skirting the edge of a spectacular mountain. A camera snaps pictures of the scene below. It sounds idyllic, but this is no champagne-soaked sightseeing tour over green fields and vineyards. In fact there are no signs of life beneath the balloon at all, just rock. And the temperature is 460 °C.
Space scientists are increasingly looking to balloons as an effective way to explore other planets, even those with extremely hostile environments. Balloons seem curiously low-tech compared with the robotic rovers doing…
