Exobiology.Space
EXOBIOLOGY.SPACE
Exobiology is the portion of astrobiology that focuses solely upon extraterrestrial life.
Colonizing venus
Which, if any, of the planets in our solar system are sensible candidates for us to colonize? Colonization of any planet is only realistic and reasonable if that planet offers a suitable environment for the long-term health and wellbeing of the colonizers. Only one planet meets that requirement, and lucky for us, it is the closest planet to Earth. It is our sister planet...Venus. The planet Venus offers tremendous benefits to colonizers because it is the most Earth-like world of our solar system. These benefits include nearly the same gravity as Earth, abundant sunlight, protection from solar and cosmic radiation, and much better proximity to Earth than any other planet. However, we will not be able to colonize the surface under present conditions, because of the intense air pressure and heat at the surface. Rather, these factors require Venus to either be terraformed (as illustrated in this NASA depiction), or colonized via the use of floating habitats. To best colonize planet Venus, humankind must develop technology to construct and occupy floating cities many kilometers above the surface of Venus.
Fortunately for those who seek to #colonizeVenus, the most Earthlike extraterrestrial conditions anywhere in the solar system are to be found in the upper reaches of the Venusian atmoshere. At an elevation of roughly fifty kilometers above the surface of planet Venus, the ambient air temperature is in the 70s F, gravity is very similar to that on Earth, the ambient air pressure is similar to the surface of the Earth, and sunlight is abundant. The Venusian air is not breathable, though, since it consists primarily of CO2 with very little O2. Given all these considertions, scientists have proposed creating floating outposts at the cloudtops of Venus, to be followed by floating cities.
Incredibly, this can readily be accomplished simply by filling the floating cities with plenty of breathable air (oxygen and nitrogen) which will be much less dense than the atmosphere of Venus, and will act as a source of bouyancy sufficient to allow an outpost or city to comfortably float above the surface of Venus. A detailed proposal by NASA on the settling of planet Venus in such a manner was published in 2003 titled "Colonization of Venus".
Floating Cities of Venus
The paper specifically conjectures the settling of planet Venus via means of floating cities at about 50 km in the Venusian sky. It states that at that altitude, the Venusian atmosphere will allow a large heavy structure such as a city to float on it, like a boat on the ocean, and that the remainig atmosphere above the floating city is sufficient to shield the floating city from harmful intergalactic and solar particle event radiation. A further major benefit cited in the article is that the gravitational pull experienced by the colonists of the floating city will be nearly that of Earth, obviating the significant drawbacks of microgravity that will be experienced on the Moon or the planet Mars.
How do the cities float within the high cloud banks of planet Venus? It is possible due to the incredible coincidence that the air we need to breathe, a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen, is lighter than is the carbon dioxide laden atmoshere of Venus. Just as hydrogen or helium act as lifting gases for balloons in the atmosphere of Earth, oxygen acts as a bouyant gas on planet Venus.
Initial Exploration
The first colonists will likely use large aerostats as their bases of exploration. With these aerostats, the colonists will have platforms high above the surface of planet Venus from which to construct larger floating structures, then permanent settlements, and eventually entire cities. Much of the structural elements of these large floating strucures can be manufactured from the carbon in the atmosphere of Venus by converting gaseous carbon dioxide (CO2) into carbon and oxygen. The carbon can be made into many kinds of products including structural fibers and mats.
Life Above the Clouds
Enjoying an equable temperature, ample filtered sunlight, and the welcome tug of gravity reminiscent of home, colonists will live a surprisingly comfortable life.
Colonists may have a choice as to the specific elevation above the surface they wish to inhabit. The zone of the Venutian atmosphere from forty to sixty kilometers above the surface is known to have differing wind velocities. Floating cities at slightly diffrent altitudes may therfore offer differing lenghts of day from each other, as the wind speeds upon which the floating cities ride rush around the planet in and out of its' day and night zones at specific velocities differing in altitude. This phenomeon has been verified by the Japanese Venus orbiter, Akatsuki, which elucidated the speeds of these winds near the Venusian equator in 2024.
https://www.isas.jaxa.jp/en/topics/001076.html
The floating colonists will engage in the study of their host planet, seraching for microbial life, perhaps following the trail of the sources of phosphine gas. They will be engaged in producing carbon-fiber and other materials from the abundant carbon dioxide in the air around them. A beneficial by-product of converting CO2 into carbon filaments is breathable oxygen which can be added directly into their living environment. The presence of abundant oxygen in the atmosphere of Venus in the form of carbon dioxide makes Venus a uniquely suitable place for human colonization.
Perhaps the colonists will also make of themselves a source for the repopulation of planet Earth, if that eventuality ever arises.
Risks to Colonists
What will happen if the outer shell of their aerostats or floating cities are ripped, punctured or torn? Because the interior and exterior air pressures will be nearly the same, there will be no rapid decompression and loss of internal air. When colonists work on the outside of their floating man-made environments, they will need oxygen to breath, and perhaps some degree of protection from droplets of weak sulfuric acid in the Venusian air, but the temperature and air pressure outside in the air of Venus will be otherwise quite tolerable.
Carbon Dioxide
The hyper-abundance of CO2 in the atmosphere of Venus leads us to consider the benefits and detriments of this gas. CO2 is essential for plant life on Earth, because plants "inhale" the gas for use in their growth processes, and then "exhale" oxygen after the plants have utilized the carbon in CO2 gas. CO2 is therefore essential not only for Earthly plant life but also for animal life. The presence of huge amounts of CO2 in the Venusian atmoshphere is both a blessing and a curse to the second planet from the Sun.
Living Above Venus
What will the Venusian colonists do long-term, after they have completed building their habitations and carbon fiber factories? One of the activities is going to be to discover the secrets of the planet known that Earth's twin. How did it form, was life present in the past, is the planet or it's atmosphere harboring any kind of life now?
Colonists will undoubtedly spend time researching the mysteries of planet Venus. One of those mysteries concerns the apparent presence of "snow" on the Venusian mountain tops, even though Venus is extremely hot. What exactly comprises the "snow" of Venus?
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/on-venus-it-snows-metal-99154/
Another major topic of endeavor will be the possible terraforming of the planet. In order to make it more like the Earth, and habitable for humans at it's surface, Venus must first be understood. Is the carbondioxide in the atmosphere continuing to build? If so, why and to what extent?
A major ongoing source of new carbon dioxide being infused into the Venusian atmosphere may be from Volcanism. Active volcanism is now suspected. The March 15 2023 edition of Science Daily reported that:
"Venus appears to have volcanic activity, according to a new research paper that offers strong evidence to answer the lingering question about whether Earth's sister planet currently has eruptions and lava flows."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/03/230315143900.html
This intriguing report points to a major issue in the potential terraforming of planet Venus. How do we deal with the planet's continued volcanism that
regularly spews more CO2 into the atmosphere?
Interplanetary "Rest Stops"
We may choose to construct deep space interplanetary living environments between the orbits of Earth and Venus to allow "rest stop" accommodations for travelers and colonists. A Kalpana One space settlement might be suitable for this task.
https://space.nss.org/kalpana-one-space-settlement/
Venusian Colonization Support & Advocacy Groups
Slowly but surely, as more and more people begin to realize the tremendous advantages of colonizing Venus rather than Mars, support and advocacy groups for the colonization of the second planet fron the Sun are developing.
An organization called, perhaps hopefully, the Humans2Venus Foundation advocates for colonizing planet Venus. It was founded by Guillermo Sohnlein, who co-founded Oceangate. He has extensive knowlege and experience in the design and production of deep-sea submersibles, which must function in a dangerous high-pressure physical environment, the deep oceans of planet Earth. He is quite aware of the dangers and pitfalls of trying to provide humsns with a protective work environment in the deep ocean where there is no breathable atmosphere, temperatures are deadly cold, sunlight is nearly totally absent, and the surrounding water pressure can be immense. The deep oceanic environment of Earth presents explorers with variations of the same obstacles humans face when trying to survive in space or the other bodies of our solar system...pressure temperature, and breathable air. Taking into consideration all of these factors plus two further ones, gravity and exposure to solar and cosmic radiation, Sohnlein wisely points out that Venus is the only sensible target for initial exploration and colonization.
They have developed a special habitation pod, to be used not only by colonists to Venus, but also anywhere that human space colonists may venture, such as the Moon or planet Mars. The habitation pod is called BioPod is capable of providing a suitable growth environment for plants necessary for human health and sustenance, as well as producing oxygen.
https://www.humans2venus.org/why-venus
Articles
Interesting articles are being written about the prospects of colonizing planet Venus.
https://bigthink.com/hard-science/how-to-colonize-venus/
