Momentum is building to explore Venus
nature.com
Momentum is building to explore Venus
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Re: Momentum is building to explore Venus
#2The enabling technology we need more of is electronics that can work at 500 C. People have demonstrated small-scale integrated circuits, but nothing like a microprocessor. https://science.nasa.gov/technology/technology-stories/elect...
Re: Momentum is building to explore Venus
#3The enabling technology we need more of is electronics that can work at 500 C. People have demonstrated small-scale integrated circuits, but nothing like a microprocessor. https://science.nasa.gov/technology/technology-stories/elect...
Not really - we don't have to land on the surface of Venus to explore it.
https://www.space.com/29140-venus-airship-cloud-cities-incre...
Re: Momentum is building to explore Venus
#4I've always wondered why we don't seed it with some biology that can eat the components of the Venusian atmosphere (ie: sulfuric acid, carbon dioxide) to make a more habitable planet over time.
Re: Momentum is building to explore Venus
#5I've always wondered why we don't seed it with some biology that can eat the components of the Venusian atmosphere (ie: sulfuric acid, carbon dioxide) to make a more habitable planet over time.
Because we've failed to terraform much closer, less inhospitable environments, and the risks for getting it wrong are very high.
Re: Momentum is building to explore Venus
#6I've always wondered why we don't seed it with some biology that can eat the components of the Venusian atmosphere (ie: sulfuric acid, carbon dioxide) to make a more habitable planet over time.
Europeans said the same about North America when they landed on it.. we might want to study it a bit before making biosphere decisions like that.. not to mention the feasibility of it being possible.
Re: Momentum is building to explore Venus
#7I've always wondered why we don't seed it with some biology that can eat the components of the Venusian atmosphere (ie: sulfuric acid, carbon dioxide) to make a more habitable planet over time.
Because we've failed to terraform much closer, less inhospitable environments, and the risks for getting it wrong are very high.
Wait, what are the risks? It's not like you're going to make Venus _more_ inhospitable than it already is.
Worst case scenario is we'd lose some valuable scientific information about Venus in its natural state.
Re: Momentum is building to explore Venus
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because we've failed to terraform much closer, less inhospitable environments, and the risks for getting it wrong are very high.
Wait, what are the risks? It's not like you're going to make Venus _more_ inhospitable than it already is. Worst case scenario is we'd lose some valuable scientific information about Venus in its natural state.
The risk that Venus is or was once host to some form of life, and humans deliberately contaminating Venus with life would obscure any evidence of it. That is a very serious worse-case scenario because non-earth life would be truly invaluable to biology.
It seems like a remote risk to me, but not something to shrug off. Particularly since the usefulness of introducing life to Venus is itself quite remote.
Re: Momentum is building to explore Venus
#9I've always wondered why we don't seed it with some biology that can eat the components of the Venusian atmosphere (ie: sulfuric acid, carbon dioxide) to make a more habitable planet over time.
because we probably don't neither Venus nor the techniques required to make such a change, let alone the money or need. the material requirements alone would be staggering plus we cannot discount the attention span problem, this isn't something likely to be done in a life time
Re: Momentum is building to explore Venus
#10I've always wondered why we don't seed it with some biology that can eat the components of the Venusian atmosphere (ie: sulfuric acid, carbon dioxide) to make a more habitable planet over time.
Wouldn't this take thousands or millions of years? Doesn't seem like there's much incentive for a project like that.