Can We Live in Venus? Yes, But Only If We Encase It in Giant Shell

In a yet-to-be-peer-reviewed paper, NASA astrophysicist Alex Howe from Goddard Space Flight Center described a new proposition to make Venus a habitable planet for humans.

However, this involves enclosing the entire planet in a giant shell that will trap the toxic environment of Venus below and allow the scientists to make a breathable atmosphere above. His paper was spotted by the Daily Beast in which he told the newspaper that the interest in colonizing Venus is mainly in the spirit of space exploration and that it would likely take 200 years to do that.

(Photo : Pixabay/BrunoAlbino)
Can We Live in Venus? Yes, But Only If We Encase It in Giant Shell

Proposed Giant Shell Encompassing Venus to Make It Habitable

In the paper titled "Cloud Continents: Terraforming Venus Efficiently by Means of a Floating Artificial Surface," Howe wrote that Venus' near-Earth-like surface gravity and an atmosphere thick enough to provide robust sun protection compared to Mars and shorter travel time due to its proximity to Earth makes it a good candidate for future human colonization.

According to Futurism, Howe reviewed several proposals for colonizing and terraforming Venus despite its extreme conditions and propose a new method of doing it by building an artificial surface in the much more hospitable upper atmosphere of Venus where the temperature and pressure are somewhat similar to Earth.

He noted that such a surface could be built with locally produced materials that would float above the atmosphere using nitrogen gas that will lift them. Through this, engineers would be able to create a breathable atmosphere. There would be no need for the importation or exportation of extreme amounts of mass, except for a modest amount of water.

The paper also discussed the requirements for engineering, logistics and energy for the proposed method. He added that robotic probes would first suck up the Venusian atmosphere and store oxygen for use by later settlers while using carbon dioxide to produce cast tiles with each as bib as a city block. He estimated that it would take about 72 trillion tiles to cover the planet. Then, the giant shell will be put in place so scientists can start geoengineering the upper atmosphere and make it human-friendly.

With all this elaborate proposal, MIT astrobiologist Janusz Petkowski said that the project is "very much a possibility" on a technical level.

ALSO READ: Life on Venus: Volcanic Activities Might Explain the Presence of Phosphine in the Atmosphere

What Makes Venus Inhabitable?

Venus is the second planet closest to the Sun and the hottest one in the Solar System. Scientists often refer to it as Earth's twin because of its similar size and density to the planet.

However, there are striking differences between the two that make Venus uninhabitable. First, its atmosphere is filled with carbon dioxide and shrouded by yellow clouds of sulfuric acid that trap heat, according to NASA.

It causes a runway of the greenhouse effect, making it the hottest planet even though Mercury is closer to the Sun. The surface temperature of Venus could reach up to 900 degrees Fahrenheit (475 degrees Celsius), which is hot enough to melt lead.

Scientists also discovered that some volcanoes on Venus could still be active, given the rusty color of the planet's surface and its intensely crunched mountains and thousands of large volcanoes.

Furthermore, the planet's crushing air pressure at its surface is similar to the pressure a diver encounters from diving a mile below the ocean. It is so great that it is estimated to be more than 90 times that of Earth.

NASA and other space agencies have long sent missions to observe Venus from orbit and on the surface, but so far, only Soviet spacecraft have made the most successful landing on the surface. However, they did not survive long due to intense heat and pressure.