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10 Reasons Venus Isn't Totally Useless


Souper

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1. CO2 mining

2. Subterranean bases / colonies / cities (that were at least 5 km underground, to prevent cave-ins)

3. Space stations in orbit

4. Terraforming

5. Prisons (either in orbit, on the surface, or subterranean)

6. A place 500$ says that you can land on, walk on, and return from

7. Underground / orbital military bases

8. Prospecting

9. Underground Farms

10. A place to slingshot to other planets. Duh!

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Why would you need to mine for CO2?

Other than for 02 as fuel, I really cant see a reason why the cost would be justifiable, relative to the income gained...

If there's water around, CO2 can be made into methane (CH4) using the Sabatier process, which also produces oxygen. Both are usable for chemical rocket propellants.

Though, admittedly, Mars is easier to reach for those kinds of things, not to mention its much less hostile environment.

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The only way Venus could ever be useful for habitation is if you have FLOATING cities. High in the atmosphere the temperatures and pressures are survivable, in some layers even comfortable. Going anywhere below 10 km above the surface (inluding subterrean structures) is pretty much suicidal.

[edit:] It also makes no economic sense, as returning from the surface to orbit is estimated to cost a whooping 27 000 delta-v, mostly due to extreme atmospheric pressure.

Edited by Hattivat
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1. CO2 mining

Why do that in a gravity well almost as deep as the earth's? If you want CO2 its easier to get it from volatile asteroids or Mars.

2. Subterranean bases / colonies / cities (that were at least 5 km underground, to prevent cave-ins)

It's more than 500 degrees celcius down there and nowhere to dump your heat. Going underground only makes that worse. A ridiculous amount of work to get a small habitable base on the bottom of a giant gravity well.

3. Space stations in orbit

Why Venus?

4. Terraforming

Possibly, but mars is probably easier. Venus is just too close to the sun, so to maintain an earthlike temperature you need a lot less greenhouse gasses. Plants don't like that since they need that CO2 to live, so you need some creative solutions for that.

5. Prisons (either in orbit, on the surface, or subterranean)

Why venus? A spaceship isn't something you can build out of paper maché and dinner trays.

6. A place 500$ says that you can land on, walk on, and return from

Wat?

7. Underground / orbital military bases

Why Venus?

8. Prospecting

Dear god no! Venus is the WORST place to prospect for ores. All the heavy stuff has sunk to the core where you cant get it. It is also at the bottom of a ridiculous gravity well. Just get it from asteroids.

9. Underground Farms

In 500 degree celcius temperatures? Why not grow em on Earth instead, similar dV to get it to orbit.

10. A place to slingshot to other planets. Duh!

Only real use that terrible terrible place has.

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Could someone please explain #6?

I think hes betting 500 bucks that you can land, walk and return from venus.. I have the feeling the op doesn't know that the planet is almost 500C and and 92 bar of atmosphere pressure.

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If there's water around, CO2 can be made into methane (CH4) using the Sabatier process, which also produces oxygen. Both are usable for chemical rocket propellants.

Though, admittedly, Mars is easier to reach for those kinds of things, not to mention its much less hostile environment.

So the only reason you're going to Venus is to get enough fuel to escape from the Venusian gravity well? Doesn't seem like the best idea...

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This is correct. But actually, it's not that hard, really. Walking on venus in a spacesuit is like walking in 1km deep water on Earth; easy. Easy, but EXHAUSTING.

and yes, i'm not stupid. Venus is very hot and very dense.

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1. possible, but not profitable

2. How do you plan to build them without melting your equipment on the surface

3. A good idea

4. A LOT of time and a LOT of money, but possible

5. Only for "Death Row" inmates. See #2.

6. Land: Yes. Walk for a few seconds. Return from: no (see #2)

7, 8, 9. No. See #2

10. We have a winner. :D

The problem with Venus is that it is a physical Hell. I'm talking 800C surface temperatures. Nothing we have will last for long on that planet.

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I think that analogy might be overly simplistic

Indeed it is. A 1 km deep ocean floor on Earth has an ambient temperature of somewhere between 10-20oC, so cooling systems simply need to transfer the heat outside. On Venusian surface, the ambient temperature is 460oC, which means the cooling system now must work ridiculously hard to dump enough heat across the 435 degree gradient (assuming internal temperature of 25o). Anyone walking there, no matter in what suit, will eventually die from the heat, as the cooling system gradually failed due to the immense load set upon it.

Edited by shynung
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I can see a way that 1 and 4 could be related.

Basic idea is that you skim CO2 off of the atmosphere during aerobraking passes, bring it to orbit, and ship it to Mars where you use it to increase the greenhouse effect.

Over a LONG time (500 years or more), that reduces the temperature and pressure on Venus, and increases the temperature and pressure on Mars.

Mars might need a roof to hold in the atmosphere, but if we're talking terraforming then we probably either already have that technology or can develop it with 50-100 years worth of R&D.

Of course, that doesn't mean we can do it right now. All it means is that there isn't anything in the laws of physics that says we can't EVER do it.

Edited by SciMan
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This is correct. But actually, it's not that hard, really. Walking on venus in a spacesuit is like walking in 1km deep water on Earth; easy. Easy, but EXHAUSTING.

No, this is not easy, in fact it has not been done. IIRC the deepest a human has been is somewhere around 600 meters.

I don't think you have a grasp on just how much 90+bar is. As for the rest of the points the slingshot is the only one feasable.

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