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Uhh, an airship? On a planet with winds at 350kmph? That sounds like a horrible idea.

azernik 9y ago
They'll move you along, but as long as there's little turbulence or wind shear, it won't damage anything. And given that the wind moves in a consistent direction and speed varies mostly just with altitude, I doubt there's much of either.
KGIII 9y ago
They aren't the first to propose it, though I haven't seen anyone suggest it go to the surface. NASA's proposal: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Altitude_Venus_Operational_Concept https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Altitude_Venus_Operatio... I am fond of the name HAVOC.
elihu 9y ago
According to wikipedia, winds are pretty slow near the surface. Strong winds at high altitudes might be a problem if there's turbulence, but if there isn't it's probably okay. > Thermal inertia and the transfer of heat by winds in the lower atmosphere mean that the temperature of Venus's surface does not vary significantly between the night and day sides, despite Venus's extremely slow rotation. Winds at the surface are slow, moving at a few kilometres per hour, but because of the high density of the atmosphere at the surface, they exert a significant amount of force against obstructions, and transport dust and small stones across the surface. This alone would make it difficult for a human to walk through, even if the heat, pressure, and lack of oxygen were not a problem. ... > The only appreciable variation in temperature occurs with altitude. The highest point on Venus, Maxwell Montes, is therefore the coolest point on Venus, with a temperature of about 655 K (380 °C; 715 °F) and an atmospheric pressure of about 4.5 MPa (45 bar). ... > Strong 300 km/h (185 mph) winds at the cloud tops go around Venus about every four to five Earth days. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus#Atmosphere_and_climate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus#Atmosphere_and_climate Given the thickness of the atmosphere, maybe the most sensible form of locomotion on the surface is to just let the wind carry you along...
- kruczek 9y ago
  >> despite Venus's extremely slow rotation That got me curious how slow Venus rotates and apparently it takes 243 Earth days for a single day to pass there. Which is even more amazing considering it takes Venus only 224 Earth days to orbit Sun - a single day there takes more than 1 year! Developing inter-planetary software would have interesting surprises...
ouid 9y ago
It's an airship, so all that matters is shear. If it doesn't have to have zero groundspeed then it doesn't matter how fast the wind is blowing, just go that direction.

They'll move you along, but as long as there's little turbulence or wind shear, it won't damage anything. And given that the wind moves in a consistent direction and speed varies mostly just with altitude, I doubt there's much of either.

KGIII 9y ago

They aren't the first to propose it, though I haven't seen anyone suggest it go to the surface. NASA's proposal: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Altitude_Venus_Operational_Concept https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Altitude_Venus_Operatio... I am fond of the name HAVOC.

elihu 9y ago

According to wikipedia, winds are pretty slow near the surface. Strong winds at high altitudes might be a problem if there's turbulence, but if there isn't it's probably okay. > Thermal inertia and the transfer of heat by winds in the lower atmosphere mean that the temperature of Venus's surface does not vary significantly between the night and day sides, despite Venus's extremely slow rotation. Winds at the surface are slow, moving at a few kilometres per hour, but because of the high density of the atmosphere at the surface, they exert a significant amount of force against obstructions, and transport dust and small stones across the surface. This alone would make it difficult for a human to walk through, even if the heat, pressure, and lack of oxygen were not a problem. ... > The only appreciable variation in temperature occurs with altitude. The highest point on Venus, Maxwell Montes, is therefore the coolest point on Venus, with a temperature of about 655 K (380 °C; 715 °F) and an atmospheric pressure of about 4.5 MPa (45 bar). ... > Strong 300 km/h (185 mph) winds at the cloud tops go around Venus about every four to five Earth days. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus#Atmosphere_and_climate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus#Atmosphere_and_climate Given the thickness of the atmosphere, maybe the most sensible form of locomotion on the surface is to just let the wind carry you along...

kruczek 9y ago
>> despite Venus's extremely slow rotation That got me curious how slow Venus rotates and apparently it takes 243 Earth days for a single day to pass there. Which is even more amazing considering it takes Venus only 224 Earth days to orbit Sun - a single day there takes more than 1 year! Developing inter-planetary software would have interesting surprises...

ouid 9y ago

It's an airship, so all that matters is shear. If it doesn't have to have zero groundspeed then it doesn't matter how fast the wind is blowing, just go that direction.