I have nothing against retro. In fact, in the right circumstances I like it a lot. But this tidbit from Jonathon Keats in Discover Magazine, well, the retro seems a bit out of context:
The Automaton Rover for Extreme Environments (AREE) [a proposal for a Venus probe – HW] — which recently received a NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts grant — is built entirely of hardened metals and guided by a clockwork computer. The rover is still far from a planned mission, but it would be able to collect weeks’ worth of climate and seismic data from Venus’ surface, all recorded on phonograph-style records that periodically would be lifted by balloon to an overhead drone. Then NASA just needs to salvage an old Victrola.
Is it the old phonograph records? The balloon? An alternative they’re considering is to use reflectors to send the data via visible light. Maybe they can just send a one-way Navy volunteer who happens to know the old flag signals.
