tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633940777526327846.post3075850055250830100..comments2024-03-21T08:00:48.696-07:00Comments on No Shortage of Dreams: Venus is the Best Place in the Solar System to Establish a Human Settlement (2003)Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633940777526327846.post-77066765369487681832023-01-28T13:06:55.137-07:002023-01-28T13:06:55.137-07:00That's a really good observation. I actually d...That's a really good observation. I actually discuss this in the post — it's a brief mention. According to the study authors, the Venusian atmosphere will protect a floating settlement at an altitude of 50 km above the surface. The radiation level there should be the same as the radiation level on the surface of Earth. dsfpDavid S. F. Portreehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15818906581595028816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633940777526327846.post-55598878159109912422023-01-27T21:52:52.590-07:002023-01-27T21:52:52.590-07:00Just saw this excellent article. What a cool idea!...Just saw this excellent article. What a cool idea! <br /><br />One big issue I didn’t see mentioned is that since Venus has no magnetic field, wouldn’t potential colonists be exposed to much higher levels of cosmic and solar radiation? If so, wouldn’t the floating cities need to be heavily shielded?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633940777526327846.post-29082909448902919262020-10-01T09:31:31.600-07:002020-10-01T09:31:31.600-07:00Sorry I left this so long - I got to work on anoth...Sorry I left this so long - I got to work on another post and neglected comments. You've written a really good discussion of the issues we cannot ignore if we want to be serious about settling other worlds. <br /><br />dsfpDavid S. F. Portreehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15818906581595028816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633940777526327846.post-21545033782900828302020-09-30T21:47:48.097-07:002020-09-30T21:47:48.097-07:00Hydrogen on Venus: No free oxygen to combine to ge...Hydrogen on Venus: No free oxygen to combine to get a stable flame. Keep in mind we use CO2 to put OUT fires :) Helium was used because I suspect they could just repurpose some helium pressure tanks they would normally use to provide propellant pressurization. The whole concept is fascinating to the extreme and the idea you can build your habitat inside your lifting balloon is just wild which is Randy Campbellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18104786265324473132noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633940777526327846.post-926172176186072062020-09-10T21:10:50.375-07:002020-09-10T21:10:50.375-07:00I saw your twitter thread about the challenge pose...I saw your twitter thread about the challenge posed to Martian settlement plans by the uncertainties in the effect of partial gravity on humans. I agree that this is something that space settlement advocates discuss seldom and only with brusque optimism, while the opinion of interested medical researchers seems (to me) to be that we don't know how humans would tolerate Martian gravity Edward Gregsonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633940777526327846.post-80154434631092366962020-09-10T17:13:38.238-07:002020-09-10T17:13:38.238-07:00I recall reading about something like the stage th...I recall reading about something like the stage thing - I don't remember any details, however. I like weird worlds where the rules are all new.<br /><br />dsfpDavid S. F. Portreehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15818906581595028816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633940777526327846.post-28441356828413860512020-09-10T17:12:03.359-07:002020-09-10T17:12:03.359-07:00CS:
I was being facetious, though I'm glad I ...CS:<br /><br />I was being facetious, though I'm glad I was - your suggestion re: why helium was used in the Vega balloons is very interesting.<br /><br />dsfpDavid S. F. Portreehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15818906581595028816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633940777526327846.post-2847175827563647492020-09-10T06:54:15.604-07:002020-09-10T06:54:15.604-07:00Maybe, but keep in mind that hydrogen-filled airsh...Maybe, but keep in mind that hydrogen-filled airships flew *after* the Hindenberg accident (the second Graf Zeppelin, Soviet airships during the war, advertising blimps in Germany after the war, and the airship that appeared in the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang movie was topped off with hydrogen when the producers were unable to obtain enough helium). So there's definitely a post-Hindenberg historyCapt Stevehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10262797376576426403noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633940777526327846.post-70099268205540170752020-09-08T11:53:54.508-07:002020-09-08T11:53:54.508-07:00Landis did the maths... a 2 km wide balloon could ...Landis did the maths... a 2 km wide balloon could lift 6 million tons, a truly astonishing number. <br /><br />At Selenian boondocks, Masten Space former engineer Jon Goff found that (empty) rocket stages could float, too - although lower, 10 km high. Provided of course they don't melt. <br /><br />https://selenianboondocks.com/2013/11/venusian-rocket-floaties/<br /><br />Venus, such a weird archibald librahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18412632761179485736noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633940777526327846.post-47745089459131879232020-09-04T19:53:01.163-07:002020-09-04T19:53:01.163-07:00Maybe they remembered the HINDENBERG.
dsfpMaybe they remembered the HINDENBERG. <br /><br />dsfpDavid S. F. Portreehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15818906581595028816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633940777526327846.post-29690481076572493782020-09-04T19:52:08.676-07:002020-09-04T19:52:08.676-07:00I love the weirdness of it. Space is so much fun i...I love the weirdness of it. Space is so much fun in large part because it's so surprising. The habitat could weigh a lot more if the balloon were bigger. A 2-km-wide balloon would have a lot more volume, hence would contain a lot more breathable air, hence could lift a lot more than a 1-km-wide balloon. I don't trust myself to do the math on that.<br /><br />dsfpDavid S. F. Portreehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15818906581595028816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633940777526327846.post-53175030523033805682020-08-31T17:21:35.429-07:002020-08-31T17:21:35.429-07:00I think if I had engineered that Venera mission I ...I think if I had engineered that Venera mission I would have pushed to use hydrogen in the balloons rather than helium in order to get a larger payload.Capt Stevehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10262797376576426403noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633940777526327846.post-8486823491220199792020-08-31T09:58:50.275-07:002020-08-31T09:58:50.275-07:00""He noted that, on Venus, a human-breat...""He noted that, on Venus, a human-breathable nitrogen/oxygen air mix is a lifting gas.""<br /><br />""A balloon containing a cubic meter of breathable air would be capable of hoisting about half a kilogram, or about half as much weight as a balloon containing a cubic meter of helium. A kilometer-wide spherical balloon filled only with breathable air could in the archibald librahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18412632761179485736noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633940777526327846.post-8505743939805243032020-08-28T17:20:27.649-07:002020-08-28T17:20:27.649-07:00Glad you like it. Why should it be hard to sell no...Glad you like it. Why should it be hard to sell not walking on the Venusian surface? It's an awful place. To my way of thinking, that's sort of like visiting the seashore but lamenting not being able to walk in a deep ocean trench. And, we can probably visit the surface of Venus through teleoperated machines (same way we explore the ocean abyss). Space is different from Earth - it David S. F. Portreehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15818906581595028816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6633940777526327846.post-59783923988418008352020-08-27T20:04:18.446-07:002020-08-27T20:04:18.446-07:00You were not kidding about the suggestion being im...You were not kidding about the suggestion being imaginative! Probably kinda hard to sell the concept of being that close to land without being able to go there, but lots of great points.Josh Shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13087169951692710580noreply@blogger.com