Post by authorgonal on Nov 11, 2014 18:38:21 GMT
Bearing in mind that life seems to be able to evolve in seemingly very hostile environments (Deep Ocean Vents spring to mind) I wonder whether the planet Venus should be considered as worth much greater attention - perhaps more than Mars. Surely this 'Climate Change Gone Mad' planet is a contender for some sort of "atmospheric seeding" operation.
It's more easily accessed to orbit at less cost and is within a theoretical 'goldilocks zone'. Considering the speculation there has been re methods of resisting Earth's warming (by orbiting reflective objects etc - that is methods or stopping heating by sunlight) would it not be worth similar attention to Venus. It's not as if our planet Earth has always been hospitable!!
The end prize of such is a planet where colonisation would not result in 'changed' humans: A Mars colony would evolve very skinny weird humans LOL. The final atmosphere would be likely to stay put and not be stripped away long term - as has happened to Mars. Whilst any transformation was underway a duplicate space station could be built in orbit and more easily maintained and serviced.
Pity the spin cannot be increased