[Space] 'Space Opera' Setting

[nick012000]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

Human-breathable air isn't much lighter at equivalent pressure. At 1 atm v. the surface pressure 0f 90 atm you'd be getting lift but you'd have to subtract the weight of your pressure vessel.

Of course at the surface of Venus it's hot enough to melt lead so the whole thing's a non-starter there.

High enough that you'll be at 1 atm I'm still not sure you'll be cool enough and you'll have the usual problems of gas bag to habitat rations.

Oh, and the upper atmosphere of Venus is full of sulfuric acid clouds too.

I've never heard a mechanically sound suggestion of anything to do with Venus except use it as a garbage dump.

Hmm? Wikipedia disagrees. It has about 60% of the lifting power of Helium there; blimp-like structures ought to be entirely possible. Heck, with advanced enough genetic engineering, you might be able to create plants capable of growing a carbon nanotube sheathe and giant gas bubbles out of the carbon dioxide in the air. With Collossal Carbon Tubes, you might be able to construct a space elevator, since they'll rotate around the planet much more quickly than the surface of the planet does (about 4 Earth days).