User blog comment:USS Enterprise CVN-65/The New (And Improved) Official Roleplay Room/@comment-25373667-20150604155543/@comment-25373667-20150605183730

Venus Orbit

Dozens of cloaked NAR ships on a top secret mission, ranging from AF-1 Light Frigates, to Andre Courteau-class Super Carriers orbit the planet, making sweeps around, taking careful photographs and making detailed maps of the Venusian surface, possibly the most accurate to date. To get through the thick atmosphere, the ships are using x-ray scanners to create 3-D images of the planet's surface, and are also using microwave radiation to detect things in the surface.

Furthermore, more probes are dropped into the atmosphere to take detailed readings of the planets features: acidity, pressure, temperature, and composition. Some probes are dropped on the surface to take readings of the soil, and also to take photographs and infared scans of the planet's surface.

But the most important probe dropped has the most important task: Go down, gather air and soil samples, and come back out to give them to scientists. The probe is released, and upon entering the atmosphere, opens a small chamber which quickly fills with air, and closes. The probe then gently comes down with its parachutes. Upon landing, the probe quickly takes several rock and soil samples, stores them inside the probe safely, and lifts back off again. The probe rockets back through the thick atmosphere, and comes out in space, where it is retrieved by an Incorruptible-class Light Carrier.

Several more probes like that are dropped, and their invaluable cargo retrieved by orbiting ships. Once retrieved, the probes' rock, soil, and atmospheric samples are sent back to Earth for further testing and examination.