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The biggest problem is it's spin rate: a Venus day is 116 days Earth days or so. Being completely tidally locked would be better because near the transition zo
by XorNot 6mo ago
The biggest problem is it's spin rate: a Venus day is 116 days Earth days or so.
Being completely tidally locked would be better because near the transition zones the permanent sun would make solar power and plants quite productive.
But an ecosystem where the planet spends most of the year in darkness or dim light?
Basically it's relatively easy to redirect comets to provide gas and liquids for the surface of Mars: that's technically demonstrated technology now.
There's almost no plausible way we could add momentum to Venus to give it a more reasonable day night cycle (I have seen some suggestion that shearing asteroids into it might be possible, but just the magnitude of momentum you're trying to add is staggering).
- JumpCrisscross 6mo ago> But an ecosystem where the planet spends most of the year in darkness or dim light? If you're floating you don't have to track the ground.
- XorNot 6mo agoTrue but you basically lose the benefits of being on a planet. The point at which you're just floating in atmosphere I would argue you might as well be in orbit for all the resupply complexities, but few of the benefits - I.e. an orbital structure without significant atmosphere around it means high Isp low thrust engines like ion drives are practical to come and go from it and a lot of the energy is free from solar.
- swiftcoder 6mo agoThere are other advantages versus orbital habitats, not least that your station doesn't have to be a pressure vessel - equal pressure within and without makes big structures a lot simpler.
- AnimalMuppet 6mo agoAll right, but if outside is one atmosphere of sulfur dioxide, you still don't want any air leaks.
- vidarh 6mo agoAt the right height the pressure would be equalised, and so while a leak isn't great, they'd be slow and manageable.
- Ancapistani 6mo agoThe atmosphere would also block the majority of radiation, which is a huge concern for proposed orbital or Martian settlements.
- vidarh 6mo agoEven better than just the atmosphere itself: Venus has an induced magnetosphere.
- JumpCrisscross 6mo ago> you might as well be in orbit for all the resupply complexities The difference is in air pressure and gravity. Gravity means comfort for astronauts. It also makes, I suspect, science and industry a bit easier. I don’t know what air pressure means. Spacewalks probably get easier. But now your structures have to deal with aerodynamic forces, which is annoying. Making up for that, you’re suspended in a soup of precursors and reagents—that opens up ISRU possibilities. And you should be getting less radiation in atmosphere. On the whole, if you’re doing planetary science, I think being in the atmosphere is hard to beat. If you’re doing any industry, being near raw materials beats shipping anything unprocessed out of a gravity well. So if you’re staying for a while, you dip in. If, on the other hand, you’re just visiting for a few days, yeah, take a lander and then get back out again.
- swiftcoder 6mo agoDoes the atmosphere itself track the ground? I'd expect the slow rotation to drive persistent winds, potentially keeping weather systems somewhat tidal-locked as well
- ultratalk 6mo agoIf I remember correctly, the habitable-ish cloud layers have super-fast winds that circle the planet once every 4 days or so. [0] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmospheric_super-rotation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmospheric_super-rotation
- thaumasiotes 6mo ago> But an ecosystem where the planet spends most of the year in darkness or dim light? How would that work? Averaged over the planet, you get half the year in darkness and half the year in light. There's no other option. We have that same ecosystem on Earth.
- idlewords 6mo agoThe atmosphere has a perfectly reasonable 110 hour day/night cycle.
- alehlopeh 6mo agoRedirect comets? Technically demonstrated technology? What?
- XorNot 6mo agohttps://science.nasa.gov/mission/dart/ https://science.nasa.gov/mission/dart/ As in the mission has been flown and an asteroid deflection has been achieved.