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Floating Cities On Venus

Posted July 22, 2008 8:37 AM

From Slashdot:

Some of you may have heard me talk about colonizing Venus. Well, for those who haven't, Universe Today is running story about floating cities on Venus. It's a reasonable alternative for space colonies — after all, the atmosphere of Venus (at about 50 km) is the most Earth-like environment in the solar system (other than Earth, of course). '50 km above the surface, Venus has air pressure of approximately 1 bar and temperatures in the 0C-50C range, a quite comfortable environment for humans.

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Guru
Technical Fields - Education - Seasoned Vet in the Classroom United States - Member -

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#1

Re: Floating Cities On Venus

07/22/2008 9:55 AM

So this is talking more a floating city akin to "Cloud City" from "The Empire Strikes Back" rather than "Atlantis" from "Stargate: SG-1".

Holy geek! I am so sad that I can make that comparison.

If the city collapsed, does that mean people would be crushed/roasted to death before the 50km fall killed them? A moot point I guess, but just curious seeing as the terminal velocity for a human body in free fall is right around 55mph, so even at that speed, you have to imagine that 50km gives you some real time to think about your demise.

I just want to know how far you would have to fall before atmospheric pressure and the intense heat did you in. Would you only have time for a quick prayer or could you have a conversation with your betrothed as you both fell to your death?

Alright, it's morbid. But it's somewhat science related...

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Guru
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#2
In reply to #1

Re: Floating Cities On Venus

07/22/2008 10:21 AM

Not all that different from being on a sinking ship falling to the bottom of the ocean. A fairly short amount of horror, then squish.

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Guru
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#3
In reply to #2

Re: Floating Cities On Venus

07/22/2008 10:26 AM

Maybe a submarine is more accurate. On a ship, at least you have the chance to bail out and float to the surface!

Because of Venus's gravity, I wonder if you fall even faster, anyhow. I was thinking of terminal velocity with G, but G is obviously going to be a different value on Venus.

Wow, I wonder what TV is for a human body on Venus...

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#4

Re: Floating Cities On Venus

07/23/2008 7:01 AM

Sort of like "Cloudbase" in Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons?

The thought of falling off it causes a certain amount of dread....

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