There is a reason why Venus is often called the hell planet, It's average surface temperature is 864o Fahrenheit which is hot enough to melt lead. Its Airs are suffocating stew of sulfuric acid and carbon dioxide. Its atmosphere is 90 times thicker than Earth's which would literally crush you. Even so Venus as a potential candidate for terraforming which is a process that turns an inhospitable planet into one that could support life.
As we continue to over saturate resources on earth scientists at NASA and Entrepreneurs like Elon Musk are looking to turn other planets into our homes. So what are Some of the Crazy Ideas to terraform our nearest neighbours Venus and Mars?
Let's start with Venus this wild world is a terrestrial planet with the similar size(Radius-6051km), mass(4.87*1024KG) and density (5243 KG per meter cube). It's also pretty close 67 miles away. we can get there by spacecraft in about 5 months, where to reach mars it takes 9 months which is 104 million miles from Earth. While Venus's atmosphere is a total hellscape it does give us something to work with. At about 30 miles above the surface, Venus's atmosphere is pretty Earth-like, with the atmospheric pressure similar to our planet, So some scientists believe building cities high above Venus's smouldering surface could be an option. This Idea is Known As HAVOC High Altitude Venus Operational Concept.
NASA's evolutionary plan would involve sending piloted aeroshells into Venus's atmosphere. Once in place, the shells would release folded airships that look like blimps. The airships would then use Venus's Carbon Dioxide atmosphere to float. Another Terraforming idea suggests cooling Venus down with a giant Sun blocker. A Sunshade mirror would be placed in between the Sun and Venus. It needs to be slightly larger than Venus's diameter to fully shade the planets. Over time it will cool the atmosphere down and block from the solar wind. As stellar these sound these ideas are just ideas. and they are both far from executable.
So how about the plans to terraform Mars. Well, the red planet is super cold and has a very thin unbreathable atmosphere comprised of 95% of carbon dioxide. Yet its structure and presence of water are similar to Earth. To retrofit Mars one idea proposes importing huge amounts of Ammonia or Hydrocarbons to create a livable atmosphere. These Gases could potentially be mined from icy moons in the outer solar system like Titan. Infusing Mar's atmosphere with Methane and other Hydrocarbons could increase the atmospheric pressure raise surface temperature and produce Water and Carbon Dioxide. This next terraforming idea takes us back to SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk. He proposed melting Mars as polar ice caps by dropping Thermonuclear booms on. The explosions would release carbon dioxide that would thicken the Martian atmosphere at that point liquid water might be able to flow on the surface and it could start a Greenhouse Effect.
So yeah when you compare terraforming ideas thermonuclear booms might be just as unrealistic as a massive sun shield. It's pretty clear we are far from a perfect terraforming scenario. But even if we do find a plausible plan it will still likely take thousands of years and incredible resources before we see humans living on Venus or Mars. But it's Fun to Dream so which planet do you want to see terraformed?
Also Read:- The Thick Atmosphere Of Venus Increases The Rotation Rate By Up To About Two Venus Minutes ( i.e 350,000 Earth Minutes ) Each Venus Day.
As we continue to over saturate resources on earth scientists at NASA and Entrepreneurs like Elon Musk are looking to turn other planets into our homes. So what are Some of the Crazy Ideas to terraform our nearest neighbours Venus and Mars?
Let's start with Venus this wild world is a terrestrial planet with the similar size(Radius-6051km), mass(4.87*1024KG) and density (5243 KG per meter cube). It's also pretty close 67 miles away. we can get there by spacecraft in about 5 months, where to reach mars it takes 9 months which is 104 million miles from Earth. While Venus's atmosphere is a total hellscape it does give us something to work with. At about 30 miles above the surface, Venus's atmosphere is pretty Earth-like, with the atmospheric pressure similar to our planet, So some scientists believe building cities high above Venus's smouldering surface could be an option. This Idea is Known As HAVOC High Altitude Venus Operational Concept.
NASA's evolutionary plan would involve sending piloted aeroshells into Venus's atmosphere. Once in place, the shells would release folded airships that look like blimps. The airships would then use Venus's Carbon Dioxide atmosphere to float. Another Terraforming idea suggests cooling Venus down with a giant Sun blocker. A Sunshade mirror would be placed in between the Sun and Venus. It needs to be slightly larger than Venus's diameter to fully shade the planets. Over time it will cool the atmosphere down and block from the solar wind. As stellar these sound these ideas are just ideas. and they are both far from executable.
So how about the plans to terraform Mars. Well, the red planet is super cold and has a very thin unbreathable atmosphere comprised of 95% of carbon dioxide. Yet its structure and presence of water are similar to Earth. To retrofit Mars one idea proposes importing huge amounts of Ammonia or Hydrocarbons to create a livable atmosphere. These Gases could potentially be mined from icy moons in the outer solar system like Titan. Infusing Mar's atmosphere with Methane and other Hydrocarbons could increase the atmospheric pressure raise surface temperature and produce Water and Carbon Dioxide. This next terraforming idea takes us back to SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk. He proposed melting Mars as polar ice caps by dropping Thermonuclear booms on. The explosions would release carbon dioxide that would thicken the Martian atmosphere at that point liquid water might be able to flow on the surface and it could start a Greenhouse Effect.
So yeah when you compare terraforming ideas thermonuclear booms might be just as unrealistic as a massive sun shield. It's pretty clear we are far from a perfect terraforming scenario. But even if we do find a plausible plan it will still likely take thousands of years and incredible resources before we see humans living on Venus or Mars. But it's Fun to Dream so which planet do you want to see terraformed?
Also Read:- The Thick Atmosphere Of Venus Increases The Rotation Rate By Up To About Two Venus Minutes ( i.e 350,000 Earth Minutes ) Each Venus Day.
No comments:
Post a Comment