Chapter 1: Introduction
Leaving Earth to find new homes in space is an old dream of humanity
Mars is often considered as a potential colony for humans
What if we consider Venus as a potential colony instead?
Chapter 2: Venus as a Potential Colony
Venus is the hottest planet in the solar system with a surface temperature of 460 degrees Celsius
Venus has the most extreme greenhouse effect in the solar system
CO2 is the main component of Venus's atmosphere, causing the extreme heat
Even a small increase in CO2 concentration in Earth's atmosphere is causing global warming
Venus's atmosphere is 97% CO2
Venus's atmosphere is 93 times denser than Earth's atmosphere
Standing on Venus's surface would feel like being under immense pressure, similar to diving deep into the ocean
The high pressure on Venus would be instantly lethal to humans
Chapter 3: Why Consider Venus?
Venus is a truly horrible place with extreme conditions
However, there are reasons to consider Venus as a potential colony:
By transforming Venus, we can create a second Earth
Turning Venus into a habitable planet might be easier than expected
Chapter 2: A Proper Terraformed Venus
Venus is almost as big as Earth and has 90 percent of its surface gravity
Surface gravity is a big problem when colonizing the solar system
Long days in low gravity places can have negative health effects
Venus's size means it could be the 2nd largest habitat in the solar system
A new home for 1,000,000,000 of humans and trillions of animals
It could have oceans, lush forests, and a beautiful blue sky
A proper terraformed Venus may be the most pleasant place to live outside of Earth
Terraforming is not possible currently, but a future version of us could take on the project
Cooling Down Venus and Removing the Atmosphere
Before anything else, we need to cool Venus down and remove the gas that makes up the extremely heavy atmosphere
The atmosphere of Venus weighs around 465,000,000,000 tons
Options for removing the atmosphere:
Create giant solar collectors powering a huge array of laser beams to heat up the atmosphere and blast it into space
Requires thousands of times the entire power generating capacity of humanity
Would still take thousands of years to remove the atmosphere
Sequester the atmosphere by binding the CO2 in different compounds through chemical reactions
Chapter 3: Free The Atmosphere
Mining elements on Mercury and shooting them at Venus
Elements like calcium or magnesium
Mass driver systems
Electric rails
Binding CO2 into carbonates
Impractical due to scale
Requires several 100,000,000,000 tons of material
May take too long
Constructing a huge mirror to block out the sun
Mirror doesn't need to be complex or massive
Thin foil with structural support
Building a large flat surface close to the sun turns it into a solar sail
Mirror consists of many different pieces
Annular slacks of angled mirrors
Reflecting sunlight from one set of mirrors to the next
Redirecting light to the back to balance the force on the front
Holding mirrors in position
Progression of the atmosphere on Venus
Infrastructure takes a few years to be put in place
Atmosphere slowly cools down but remains dense and deadly
After 60 years, temperature reaches 31 degrees Celsius
CO2 turns to liquid and begins to rain down
Constant global rainstorm lasting 30 years
Chapter 4: Over Venus's Surface
The pressure and temperature drop simultaneously
Puddles turn into lakes and oceans
Surface temperature is now -56 degrees Celsius
Pressure drops to 7 times the pressure on Earth
CO2 oceans freeze and rain turns into snow
Leaves Venus with frozen oceans and CO2 glaciers
Remaining atmosphere mostly nitrogen at 3 times Earth's surface pressure
Challenges of walking on Venus's surface
Freezing temperature
Suffocation due to lack of oxygen
Keeping the CO2 from Melting
Need to prevent CO2 ice from melting and filling up the atmosphere
Possible solutions
Covering the CO2 ice with cheap plastic insulation and Venus rock or water oceans
Concerns of building a planet with a potential time bomb
Volcanic activity could melt a large amount of CO2 at once
Shooting the CO2 out into space and collecting it in a small moon for storage and future use
Efficiency can be improved using mass drivers instead of rockets
Moving the mass will be a challenging task
Obtaining Water
Water is essential for moving forward
Possible source of water: ice moons
Chapter 5: The Venus Tethers
Europa has twice as much water as earth's oceans
Capturing and transporting a moon through the solar system is difficult
Using construction drones to cut chunks of ice off Europa and shoot them at Venus is a potential solution
Space Tethers can be used to save effort and energy
How Space Tethers Work
Space Tethers are objects that can take a payload on both ends
On Europa, the tethers do most of the work to catapult ice to Venus
The ice hits the Venus tethers, which drop it gently into the atmosphere
The ice falls down as snow
The Venus tethers catch CO2 ice shot up from below and accelerate it into orbit
Excess nitrogen can be removed using the same method to lower atmospheric pressure
Terraforming Venus
After a few decades or centuries, Venus would be covered by a shallow frozen ocean
The planet would have continents and islands
The appearance of Venus would resemble Earth
Making the Atmosphere Breathable and Adding Life
The final step in terraforming Venus is making the atmosphere breathable
Light and heat are needed to support life
Chapter 6: Atmosphere Of Planet
Avenous Day
Avenous day is 2802 hours long, more than 116 earth days.
Removing the giant mirror would result in half of the planet being grilled.
Even without the massive atmosphere, temperatures would reach unbearable levels.
Another set of mirrors can create a day-night cycle and control energy intake.
The Atmosphere
The atmosphere is mostly nitrogen and lacks oxygen.
The first inhabitants will likely be cyanobacteria.
Cyanobacteria can photosynthesize and release oxygen.
They can turn around the atmosphere of a planet and fertilize the ocean water.
Cyanobacteria can fix nitrogen from the atmosphere and turn it into nutrients.
Land Colonization
Grinding down some of the ocean surface to create soil for nitrogen fixing plants.
Billions of trees would spread and cover large parts of the continent.
Venus would turn green.
CO2 would be released strategically to supply plants and cyanobacteria.
Orbital mirrors can provide extra light to areas already covered with plants.
Chapter 7: Vast New Planet
Genetic engineering and expanding understanding of genetics and life machinery may allow us to engineer life as needed
It would take several thousand years to make the atmosphere breathable for humans
Settlers would have to wear regular clothes and oxygen masks while exploring the planet
Venus offers vast resources and abundant sunlight for settlers
Potential uses for carbon dioxide ice and nitrogen in space
Possibility of using Venus as a base for rocket fuel production or terraforming other planets
Terraformed Venus
Venus is fully terraformed with animals roaming in vast ecosystems
Construction of cities on Venus
Billions of settlers and their descendants call Venus home
Reflection on the past and the transformation of Venus from a hostile planet to a habitable one
Possibility and Challenges
Terraforming Venus is not an easy task and requires many things to go right
Technology within reach of a motivated and slightly more advanced humanity
Imagination is the only thing stopping us from achieving this future
Overcoming the problem of imagination is relatively easy
Chapter 8: Conclusion
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