3 ms·
It would just take too long. Modern space capsules travel at kilometers per second, and it would still take months to reach Mars. If were to travel there a 30km
by snek_case 4y ago
It would just take too long. Modern space capsules travel at kilometers per second, and it would still take months to reach Mars. If were to travel there a 30km/h it would take centuries to get there.
... This is all ignoring the fact that orbital mechanics just wouldn't work if there was air resistance. The planets would quickly slow down and crash into the sun.
- andrewflnr 4y agoRight, of course the real answer is that none of this is possible, at least not just replacing the interplanetary atmosphere without adjusting anything else for consistency. But imagine this: a breathable nitrox atmosphere co-orbiting with the planets. Each planet is roughly at rest with respect to the local atmosphere, so no drag. Just lots and lots of wind shear. Probably planetary scale vortices. That'll sap orbital energy into heat, so probably not stable, but pilots can probably exploit it to acheive velocities comparable to orbital velocities over time. I think you'd probably have to have two sails connected by a tether, sufficiently far that their air streams are at significantly different speed, with one of them acting like a keel.