Editing Aerobot (section)

===The Venus Vega balloons===
{{Main|Vega program#Balloon}}
[[File:Russian "Vega" balloon mission to Venus on display at the Udvar-Hazy museum.jpg|thumb|Vega balloon probe on display at the [[Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center|Udvar-Hazy Center]] of the Smithsonian Institution]]

The first, and so far only, planetary balloon mission was performed by the Space Research Institute of Soviet Academy of Sciences in cooperation with the French space agency CNES in 1985. A small balloon, similar in appearance to terrestrial [[weather balloon]]s, was carried on each of the two [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[Vega program|Vega Venus probes]], launched in 1984.

The first balloon was inserted into the atmosphere of Venus on 11 June 1985, followed by the second balloon on 15 June 1985. The first balloon failed after only 56 minutes, but the second operated for a little under two Earth days until its batteries ran down.

The Venus Vega balloons were the idea of [[Jacques Blamont]], chief scientist for CNES and the father of planetary balloon exploration. He energetically promoted the concept and enlisted international support for the small project.

The scientific results of the Venus VEGA probes were modest. More importantly, the clever and simple experiment demonstrated the validity of using balloons for planetary exploration.