Post by Kenoshi on Jul 5, 2009 23:04:25 GMT -5
While not as high a priority for terraforming as Mars, Venus has been considered a highly likely place to settle since humanity first started exploring the solar system in earnest. Nearly forty years after terraforming efforts started on Mars, the funding was secured to attempt to shape Venus' atmosphere into something that would be habitable for human life. The efforts have only been a partial success, but a substantial improvement over the prior condition of the acidic, cloud-shrouded planet.
Venus is surrounded by a series of rings of orbiting mirrors constructed of a thin material that covers millions of square kilometers. Those mirrors reflect/absorb part of the sunlight that reaches Venus, allowing for equivalent levels of solar radiation as received on Earth. Alternating bands within the mirrors reflect more light, allowing for an illusion of a 24 hour day, and assure that the entire surface of the planet receives an even amount of daylight. The mirrors serve an additional function of creating a magnetic field that surrounds the planet, compensating for its lack of a strong natural field, providing protection against the ravages of the solar wind.
This has resulted in the surface temperature of the planet dropping dramatically. Where it used to be an average of 480 C, it has since dropped to a balmy 90 C over much of the planet. The surface of the planet is still covered by a thick layer of supercritical carbon dioxide, being nearly 90 times denser than the Earth's atmosphere at sea level. Oceans of water have formed as well, beneath the carbon dioxide layer, but are scaldingly hot and highly acidic. The only life that is currently found in the oceans are hypothermorphile and piezophile bacteria, along with some slightly more complex organisms that can survive in those extreme conditions. Genetically engineered plants can be found on the land: kelp-like growths that use gas-filled bladders to elevate their stalks hundreds of feet in the air to collect as much of the feeble supply of sunlight as possible. Additional engineered plants float higher up in the atmosphere like jellyfish, drifting on the brisk wind, doing their part to gradually add to Venus' oxygen supply.
Due to the harsh conditions on the ground, the only settlements to be found on Venus are in massive floating cities. Saucer-shaped, built around massive tanks of light gasses, these kilometers-wide cities float on top of the heavier layers of the atmosphere like lilypads on a pond. Resting at just the right altitude, these cities enjoy an atmosphere that is of an equivalent pressure and composition to that on Earth, right around sea level. Shield walls built around the perimeter of the cities protect the inhabitants from fierce winds, but otherwise the habitats are surprisingly stable.
The latest and most ambitious project in trying to make Venus more Earth-like has involved building a ring of thrusters in geosynchronous orbit around the planet's equator, each one connected to the planet by a thick tether; those thrusters create a gentle but steady thrust that gradually increases the planet's rotation. So far they have added only seconds to Venus' rotation each year, but with time there is hope that the planet will have an Earth normal day and night without the need for mirrors.
Venus is surrounded by a series of rings of orbiting mirrors constructed of a thin material that covers millions of square kilometers. Those mirrors reflect/absorb part of the sunlight that reaches Venus, allowing for equivalent levels of solar radiation as received on Earth. Alternating bands within the mirrors reflect more light, allowing for an illusion of a 24 hour day, and assure that the entire surface of the planet receives an even amount of daylight. The mirrors serve an additional function of creating a magnetic field that surrounds the planet, compensating for its lack of a strong natural field, providing protection against the ravages of the solar wind.
This has resulted in the surface temperature of the planet dropping dramatically. Where it used to be an average of 480 C, it has since dropped to a balmy 90 C over much of the planet. The surface of the planet is still covered by a thick layer of supercritical carbon dioxide, being nearly 90 times denser than the Earth's atmosphere at sea level. Oceans of water have formed as well, beneath the carbon dioxide layer, but are scaldingly hot and highly acidic. The only life that is currently found in the oceans are hypothermorphile and piezophile bacteria, along with some slightly more complex organisms that can survive in those extreme conditions. Genetically engineered plants can be found on the land: kelp-like growths that use gas-filled bladders to elevate their stalks hundreds of feet in the air to collect as much of the feeble supply of sunlight as possible. Additional engineered plants float higher up in the atmosphere like jellyfish, drifting on the brisk wind, doing their part to gradually add to Venus' oxygen supply.
Due to the harsh conditions on the ground, the only settlements to be found on Venus are in massive floating cities. Saucer-shaped, built around massive tanks of light gasses, these kilometers-wide cities float on top of the heavier layers of the atmosphere like lilypads on a pond. Resting at just the right altitude, these cities enjoy an atmosphere that is of an equivalent pressure and composition to that on Earth, right around sea level. Shield walls built around the perimeter of the cities protect the inhabitants from fierce winds, but otherwise the habitats are surprisingly stable.
The latest and most ambitious project in trying to make Venus more Earth-like has involved building a ring of thrusters in geosynchronous orbit around the planet's equator, each one connected to the planet by a thick tether; those thrusters create a gentle but steady thrust that gradually increases the planet's rotation. So far they have added only seconds to Venus' rotation each year, but with time there is hope that the planet will have an Earth normal day and night without the need for mirrors.