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> But 50% of NASA's science funding is gone. The proposed cuts to science are catastrophic, but there’s still time to call your Congressperson. https://aas.org/posts/news/2025/05/week-of-action
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I propose we just yeet one of them and see if the rest clean up their act.
Is there something to suggest that they would actually be good at their jobs if they were to be better motivated? I’m not seeing it.
I wonder if Venus could be terraformed via a sun shield placed in orbit around it. How big would it have to be to reverse the runaway greenhouse effect?
If you're interested in human habitation of Venus overall, you may find it interesting to learn Venus is probably preferable kept at about its current temperature or only made a little colder. See, the atmosphere at ~50 altitude... happens to be about 1 bar (which happens to be Earth's atmospheric pressure ASL)... and happens to have temperatures that can support human and plant life! And better still, the atmosphere…
Maybe if I were a bird I'd be comfortable with it, but it's just disturbing. No solid ground...
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Crazy factoid one: The Earth masses more than everything else between the Sun and Jupiter combined. Crazy factoid two: Venus is 80% of the Earth's mass.
It also blows my mind that the Sun accounts for 99.86% of the entire Solar System’s mass.
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Supposedly, the Senate Launch System boondoggle is being killed, but not until 2027, by which time the Artemis III moon landing is supposed to happen. Since Artemis II (manned flight around the moon) has been delayed again, that's unlikely. Ninth Space-X Starship/Super Heavy launch some time this month.
> Senate Launch System Where can I contribute to put all the senators in a spaceship and yeet them into outer space?
I would absolutely demolish a Venus Crust Surprise
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If you're interested in human habitation of Venus overall, you may find it interesting to learn Venus is probably preferable kept at about its current temperature or only made a little colder. See, the atmosphere at ~50 altitude... happens to be about 1 bar (which happens to be Earth's atmospheric pressure ASL)... and happens to have temperatures that can support human and plant life! And better still, the atmosphere…
It actually is hard for me to imagine that. I wouldn't want to live in a floating habitat held aloft by balloons. Maybe if I were a bird I'd be comfortable with it, but it's just disturbing. No solid ground...
At the same time, do consider how you already count on conventionally supported structures like bridges, buildings, tunnels, etc. not to have any defects or design flaws. Or once-in-100-years storms or earthquakes.
This magnifies further if you've ever flown on a plane or sailed on a ship. It only takes the right series of failures to be plummeting to the bottom. Now imagine people who spend months or years counting on technology and redundancy to keep them alive in space, and might expect to do so indefinitely.
Exposure therapy, baby!
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Crazy factoid one: The Earth masses more than everything else between the Sun and Jupiter combined. Crazy factoid two: Venus is 80% of the Earth's mass.
It also blows my mind that the Sun accounts for 99.86% of the entire Solar System’s mass.
Venus is a damned shame. Had planetary evolution gone just slightly differently, the solar system could have had two habitable water planets. Mars, owing to its size, was never going to cut it, but Venus might have.
I wonder how a system with 2 planets with intelligent lifeforms would've developed culturally and politically... if both civilizations grew at the same rate, 2 Galileos would've looked at the other planet and figured out "we have neighbors!", but it'd be several hundred more years before communication could be done. Even know we don't have manned missions to Mars or Venus...
If Venus had a superintelligent species today, we would likely be pets or food.
If it had a superintelligent species 100,000 years ago, we will never know (or not know for quite a while).
And if it has life now that is evolving into something intelligent or superintelligent in 100,000 years, who knows if humanity will still be here to find.
- "Several upcoming missions, including NASA’s DAVINCI (Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging)" DAVINCI is actually cancelled in the latest budget request. For obvious reasons, the NASA press office (the OP) won't talk about this. But 50% of NASA's science funding is gone. https://spacenews.com/white-house-proposal-would-slash-nasa-...
> But 50% of NASA's science funding is gone. The proposed cuts to science are catastrophic, but there’s still time to call your Congressperson. https://aas.org/posts/news/2025/05/week-of-action