4 ms·
Venus is in what I call the thermolocks zone, not the goldilocks zone. The thermolocks zone is optimal for solar power and perhaps therefore for computation, al
by OutOfHere 6mo ago
Venus is in what I call the thermolocks zone, not the goldilocks zone. The thermolocks zone is optimal for solar power and perhaps therefore for computation, although heatsink radiators are essential.
The atmosphere of Venus in particular is very resource rich, and so it would be incredible to mine it for heavy use by a space economy. This mining is supposed to use free solar power. All of this is a job for robots, not humans.
- actionfromafar 6mo agoFuel for interplanetary rocket barges (coal lined tubes fed from liquid tanks oxygen), produced in the floating factories of Venus. Sure, why not?
- AlotOfReading 6mo agoThe advantage is that the inevitable chemical spills won't make the atmosphere any more hazardous.
- OutOfHere 6mo agoI think it's important to preserve the integrity of the Venus surface for when we have substantially mined its atmosphere. That's when Venus could begin to present an opportunity for limited human habitability. We'd then have to use mirrors to redistribute sunlight evenly and boundedly across its slowly-rotating lit and dark sides. We could try to create an artificial ozone layer to block UV. We'd still have to neutralize the residual corrosive substance (unreacted chlorine, sulfur, fluorine) using water and alkali chemistry and scrubbers. The raw materials for alkali would come from the planet itself. Water would have to be imported from the space economy, probably from asteroids, also as hydrogen from Neptune's atmosphere using fusion powered lift.