Inna, mniej ambitna, lecz też ciekawa propozycja balonowej misji na Wenus, zwana Calypso Venus Scout. Tutaj balon latałby nad chmurami i nieco poniżej nich, żeby móc obserwować powierzchnię planety. Zastanawiam się tylko, że jeśli nawet poniżej chmur atmosfera jest przezroczysta to jak małe detale da się maksymalnie zobaczyć na powierzchni? Przecież tam jest gorąco a gorące powietrze drga i faluje, więc obraz może być w duzej rozdzielczości zamazany i lądowników Wener, o ile dotrwały one do naszych czasów, chyba nie zobaczymy.
Upon Calypso's arrival at Venus, a massive balloon would deploy in the atmosphere, right at the top of the cloud layers, keeping steady at an altitude of about 30 miles (50 km). At that height, the temperature and pressure don't require any ingenious new technology and solar panels can provide ample power to the probe.
From that balloon, a descent module would trail down, held to the balloon by a tether 10-20 miles (15-30 km) long. The descent module would poke beneath the clouds and take some pictures, surveying the terrain as the high-altitude winds blow the balloon around. Then, once the temperatures inside the descent module get too hot to handle, the module would reel back up above the clouds, relaying the data back to Earth while the module cools off for another round.
On its way up and down, the probe would slowly scan the surface of Venus in visible and infrared wavelengths to a potential resolution of just a few inches or centimeters. One of the most powerful aspects of Calypso is that it wouln't be limited to studying just a single landing site, but would be able to survey wide swaths of the Venusian landscape.