Stingray-inspired spacecraft could eventually probe the atmosphere of Venus

Yahoo! and several other websites posted articles about UB’s CRASH lab, which is working with NASA to design a new spacecraft that would fly around Venus and take measurements of its harsh atmosphere that includes incredibly hot temperatures, thick clouds of sulfuric acid and volcanoes.

"By taking our cues from nature, specifically sea rays, we’re looking to maximize flight efficiency," said Javid Bayandor, CRASH lab director and associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering.

The craft, called Bio-inspired Ray for Extreme Environments and Zonal Exploration or BREEZE, would be powered by solar panels that would charge every two to three days, when the craft emerged from the dark side of the planet.

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Tech Crunch, CNET, Daily Mail, Numerama and India Times also covered the story.