Can Venus ever be terraformed?

Question

It's so similar to Earth but the atmosphere, and very close.

It would be so cool if Venus could me made livable.

Can it?

Answer 1

Yes, it would be difficult, but there is nothing that makes it impossible if the desire to terraform Venus is really there.

The main difficulty is getting rid of most of the atmosphere, which is what creates the extreme greenhouse effect there, leading to surface temperatures capable of melting lead. This would, obviously, be very difficult because a lot of mass has to be removed or converted into something more benign.

But you would still need to introduce water to the planet. Unlike Mars, there is virtually no water in the Cytherean atmosphere. Water could be obtained from comets or certain asteroids (like Ceres).

Also, as my colleagues have pointed out, a day on Venus lasts about 240 Earth days. This would be a deal breaker for most Earth plants and animals (if not genetically modified). But it is also theoretically possible to speed up the rotation of the planet. There are multiple ways, for some info, see Paul Birch's article "How to Spin a Planet", available on his website (http://www.paulbirch.net).

But, obviously, Mars would be much easier to terraform. But Venus's greater gravity and the fact that it is easier to get to from Earth give that planet some advantages as well.

Please note: it would be possible to colonize Venus with today's level of technology, without any sort of terraforming. Simply float a colony 50 km above the surface. Atmospheric pressure there is equal to that on Earth and temperatures are between 0-50 celcius--perfect! (See the colonization article below for more info)

Answer 2

First off, we would have to figure out how to "terraform" places in the first place.

I would say that, in theory, Venus might be too hot for life because of its proximity to the sun. Currently it is 800F, but if we could get rid of the clouds and greenhouse gases, it may become cooler. I am not sure if it could become cool enough for life.

On a side note, some scientist think that organic material exists about 50 miles above Venus' surface in the clouds where it is cooler.

Answer 3

You've been reading Edgar Rice Burroughs, haven't you? I propose a switch from the Venus series to the Tarzan series, since the latter is more likely to impart wisdom to one such as yourself.

All you answerers who propose shifting the orbits of enough ice asteroids in the Oort cloud so that they crash into Venus and make water oceans don't have THE SLIGHTEST IDEA of how much energy is involved in the delta-vees required to enter the Venus-intercept transfer orbits. And even if you did, you'd not be able to figure out how much rocket propellant would be needed to ship the rocket propellant for the asteroid delta-vee's into the Oort Cloud.

This is the starry-eyed attitude that makes for a good Star Trek fan (or a good liberal, if we're talking about politics), but it's a lazy, sentiment-driven, know-nothing attitude that causes you not only to fail to do the homework, but also to fail to learn how that homework is done.

Answer 4

If Venus were cool, that would be one thing. The surface of 800 degrees Fahrenheit is hotter than Mercury's surface. It is truly a hellish world.

That said, who knows? Maybe biochemists will develop a gas that will turn Venus' sulfuric acid atmosphere into one like Earth's. After is stops raining, who knows? Beachfront property in a very tropical place.

Answer 5

Venus has tremendous surface pressures, making any of todays equipment virtually useless at the surface. Probes that land on venus are crushed very quickly.

And i if i remember correctly venus is nearly tidally locked, very slow rotation period. So very long days and very long nights, meaning one side of the planet is cooked while the other freezes for about 200 days. Unlike earth where the temperature is moderated because of night and day.

Answer 6

It would be difficult but anything is possible. We would definitely need to change the atmosphere so the surface temperature drops. We would also need to bring in water/ice and oxygen. That would be really cool if we could do that.

Answer 7

if we build Von Neuman machine it is doable in decades. What Von Neuman does is it created copy of itself from material gathered from surrounding. Thus a Von Neuman machine undergoes exponential growth. I think if we created Von Neuman machine that incorporate carbon into its structure and store it as a solid form we can quickly drain the carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, reduce greenhouse effect and voila! another Earth for us to exploit, pollute and loot. But yes it is doable, though the technology behind a Von Neuman machine is immensely challenging and we are probably hundred of years away from it.

Answer 8

No way! Global warming on Venus is many thousands of times worse than it will ever be on Earth, and we don't seem to be making much progress on controlling it here. If we can't change it here, we can't change it there.

Answer 9

like you noticed, the atmosphere is very different. so, i suppose it depends on the characteristics of what you are growing.
i would imagine the correct spelling would be
TERRAFARMED, unless you are'nt raising crops but mountains or valleys, ellipses and the like

Answer 10

"Terraform" is a science fiction word, and it will not ever be possible to do what that implies. Natural forces exist on a scale that we will never be able to manipulate.