Why Dirigibles?

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by RyanW

One thing that is interesting is that, in Venus' dense CO2 atmosphere, oxygen and nitrogen are lifting gases. A floating city above the clouds at 1 atm is awesomely steampunk but plausible, with outside work done in shirtsleeves and a face mask.

At altitudes where you would not have to wear an extreme environment suit outside for either pressure or heat that buoyancy would be much reduced. Also, I think there might be sulfuric acid clouds up there.

I have in the past been relatively sympathetic for schemes that involved blowing up Venus. Or at least blowing off its' atmosphere. It probably is the least useful piece of real estate in the Solar System that you can theoretically stand on the surface of.