Michael Hopcroft wrote:
I don't know if this is a helpful question so much as a comment, but
why do you WANT TO?
In this setting, Terradyne Corporation has already shown some
success with terraforming Mars. Humanity's population keeps growing and
they need places to live and grow food. Venus has a gravity very
similar to Earth's and is roughly the same size, plus it's closer to
Earth than Mars is. Even with a much higher tech level than what we
have today, Venus is still too dangerous for habitation. So, even
reducing the undesirable aspects of the Venusian atmosphere would
provide benefits early into the terraforming process.
wouldn't Venus be too close to the Sun, and thus too hot, to be
habitable even WITH an altered atmosphere?
The current theory is that Venus is as hot as it is because of high
levels of atmospheric CO2. By reducing the CO2 levels in the atmosphere
and keeping the cloud cover, it might be possible to create conditions
under which humans can live without life support. Still, some kind of
artificial shading might be required, and for my campaign, I'm assuming
this is the case.
Even if conditions cannot be created to allow an unsuited human to
live on the surface, if water can be created (by combining the excess
CO2 with the imported H2) then it may be possible to genetically alter
plants to be grown under those conditions.
And how would you prevent that atmosphere from being changed by the heat?
I'm not sure that I understand the question. If it's possible to
lower the temperature of the atmosphere, then there won't be any
excessive heat to create unwanted chemical reactions.
There's an interesting article about all of this at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venusian_terraforming
My main concern for the expanded background was the source of the
hydrogen. Personally, I like the idea of mining the Kuiper Belt for a
single large object with enough hydrogen to get the job done.
-Mike
--
Michael Sarno
“When a stupid man is doing something he is ashamed of,
he always declares that it is his duty.”
-George Bernard Shaw
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