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Forget Mars: Let's Terraform Venus Instead! | IE - Interesting Engineering

Forget Mars: Let's Terraform Venus Instead! | IE - Interesting Engineering

Forget Mars: Let's Terraform Venus Instead! | IE - Interesting Engineering
Apr 07, 2021 4 mins, 16 secs

With so much attention focused on Mars as a potential "second home" for humanity, are we overlooking Venus and what it has to offer?

As the second most habitable planet beyond Earth in the Solar System, these missions are busy answering vital questions about Mars' past — foremost of which is whether or not it once supported life (or if it still does!).

Also known as Earth's "Sister Planet," Venus has a lot going for it that might make it a better candidate for long-term human habitation?

Beyond Earth, Mars is the most habitable planet in the Solar System.

However, being the next-most habitable planet doesn't mean that Mars is a playground for life as we know it.

For starters, the average temperature on Mars is -81 °F (-62.7 °C), which is significantly lower than what we're used to here on Earth, 57.2 °F (14 °C).

The temperature on the surface of Mars is also subject to a greater level of variation, ranging from 68 °F (20 °C) during the summer in the equatorial region (at midday) to −243 °F (−153 °C) during winter at the poles.

On Mars, the gravity is 37.5% of what life on Earth experiences 12.208 ft/s² (3.721 m/s²).

For example, the extremes in temperature and high radiation levels can be mitigated by creating structures on the surface that can maintain an atmosphere and provide sufficient radiation shielding.

It's also suggested that Mars could be ecologically transformed to accommodate Earth life forms (a process called terraforming).

As we explored in a previous article, there are many ways that Mars can be terraformed.

This would kick up dust that would allow the atmosphere to absorb more solar radiation.

Along with a denser atmosphere, this shield would also drastically reduce the amount of radiation the Martian surface is exposed to.

Ah, but there's another drawback to Mars' lower gravity.

Assuming we were to create an atmosphere equal to Earth in terms of air pressure (101.325 kPa), it would only hold on to 38% of this over time (38.44 kPa).

According to data gathered by various missions, it is believed that until recently (in geological terms), Venus was a warm and wet planet where oceans covered 80% of the surface.

However, if the planet could be restored to its former self — by reversing the Greenhouse Effect (which is possible) — then humanity would have a planet closer to Earth that is roughly equal in size, mass, and gravity.

In contrast, the average distance between Earth and Mars is about 140 million miles (225 million km), ranging from 34.6 million miles (55.7 million km) to around 249 million miles (401.3 million km).

Our two planets make their closest approach every 26 months (2 years and 2 months), which is known as an "opposition" since the Sun and Mars are on opposite sides of the sky (when viewed from Earth)!

So not only does Venus get closer to Earth than Mars, but it also makes its closest approach to us more often.

Then there's the matter of Venus' gravity, which is the equivalent of 90% to what we experience here on Earth - 8.87 m/s² (0.904 g).

For starters, Venus is the hottest planet in the Solar System, with an average surface temperature of 867 °F (464 °C) — which is hot enough to melt metals like lead and zinc.

However, unlike Mars, atmospheric pressure on Venus is a whopping 9100 kPa - that's 90 times the pressure of Earth's atmosphere.

These have been observed in Venus' upper atmosphere and may not condense closer to the surface.

This means that for an observer on the surface of Venus, it takes close to four months for the Sun to set and rise again (compared to 24 hours here on Earth).

Luckily, with the right kind of ecological techniques and some serious elbow grease, Venus could be terraformed into an ocean planet with mild temperatures and endless beachfront property.

Much like terraforming Mars, these three goals are complementary, even if they are the complete opposite.

It would be another thirty years before another proposal for terraforming Venus was made, which was done by British Paul Birch in his 1991 paper "Terraforming Venus Quickly." According to Birch, flooding Venus' atmosphere with hydrogen would trigger a chemical reaction, creating graphite and water.

This shade would also block solar wind, preventing Venus' atmosphere from being stripped and also shielding the planet from solar radiation.

Over time, as Venus' atmosphere grew less dense, the cities would migrate to the surface and become part of the landscape. .

There are a number of ways to do this, like striking Venus' surface with large asteroids or using mass drivers or dynamic compression members to impart transfer energy and momentum to the surface.

And — as mentioned earlier — the planet would have a surface gravity pretty close to that of Earth.

Over time, humans could introduce terrestrial organisms like plants, trees, bacteria, and aquatic species to Venus.

In a 2012 interview with CBS This Morning, he said that: "You need to live in a dome initially, but over time you could terraform Mars to look like Earth and eventually walk around outside without anything on...

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