Venus is the Earth's closest planetary neighbour. It is known as Earth’s twin and was once habitable. So why this planet is not on the radar of space exploration? Whereas, some experts believe that Venus is more suited for building a future human colony compared to Mars…
Public fascination with Mars started in 1897 with the release of sci-fi novel The War of the Worlds by English author H. G. Wells. It was the first major work to explore the concept of the "extraterrestrial invader" and exerted a considerable influence on the public psyche. Consequently, Mars began to take a special place in popular culture around the turn of the 20th century which has continued to this day. We all know that the Red Planet has inspired numerous movies, literature, television series and not to forget “a Twitter following for Mars Rover that is 2 million strong.”
On the other hand, Venus has surprisingly remain absent from our consciousness. This has hurt our sister planet not in terms of publicity in pop culture but in space policy. Countries around the world are planning to send manned and unmanned mission to Mars whereas Venus has been totally overlooked.
Do you think that Venus is more conducive to set up a future human colony compared to Mars? Let’s know in the comments below.
Things that goes in favour of Venus
In fact, as the video by PBS Space Time explains, Venus is much easier and less costly to colonize. For starters Venus is much closer to Earth. Depending on the launch window, “the round trip can be 30 to 50% shorter compared to Mars.” This will save us a lot of money and time in case we planned to build a future human outpost. Let’s also not forget that Venus and Earth are almost the same size, have about the same mass, and have a very similar composition. The surface gravity on Venus is about 91% of the surface gravity on Earth. Venus also has a thicker atmosphere, unlike Mars, which means more protection from harmful UVs. And being nearer to Sun means there is no shortage of solar power.
So , where is it lagging
Well, the biggest problem with Venus is the scorching surface temperature. The average temperature on Venus is 462 degrees Celsius. That is roughly 410 degrees hotter than the hottest deserts on our planet. Also, the atmospheric pressure on the surface of Venus is unbearable and here is the icing on the cake: The clouds on Venus rain sulfuric acid.
What’s the way out
Artist's concept of a Venus cloud city
Well, the scientists say that we don’t have to land on the surface of the Venus. What they are proposing is floating human outposts/cities above Venusian surface. Scientists say that an altitude of 50km (30 miles) the conditions on Venus are as close to Earth's as you'll find anywhere in the solar system. In fact, Nasa has unveiled a project called HAVOC (High Altitude Venus Operational Concept) to make this happen. The HAVOC model involves placing the astronauts inside an 'aeroshell'. But HAVOC would avoid the surface, instead hovering about 50 kilometers up in Venus' thick, carbon-dioxide-dominated air.
Up there, conditions are much more manageable; atmospheric pressure is roughly what we're used to, and the average temperature is 75 degree Celsius—around 25 degree Celsius hotter than the highest temperature ever recorded on Earth. Even our current technology is more than capable to contend with everything that Venus could throw at the mission. But how will the structure stay in the atmosphere? Nasa says, the aeroshell will float with the help of helium.
But to make this happen, robotic missions would have to be sent to test technologies and better understand the atmosphere.