Venus, one of the most fascinating
and dangerous planets in our solar system.
It's filled with scorching temperatures, crushing
atmospheric pressure and acid rain.
But despite these dangers, some people think it might be
a better planet for humans to settle on than Mars.
But why?
And would a human settlement on
Venus even be possible?
Sit back as we take you on a 10,000 day journey
of how humanity could populate this planet
maybe.
Okay. Okay. Not so fast.
Before you set foot on Venus, we're going to have to run some
extensive tests and gather more information about this planet.
First, we'll need to launch robotic missions
and map it out and collect information about the environment.
Luckily, we already have a bit of a head start on this.
Since 1961, spacecraft
have been flying by and profiling Venus.
These missions measured things like the topography,
atmospheric pressure and the overall conditions of the planet.
But there's still a lot to learn about the Venusian surface.
That's Noam Izenberg.
He works for the Venus Exploration Analysis Group.
A NASA community whose goal is to keep people updated
on new information about Venus.
In the 2020s and 2030s,
Noam will be part of a satellite mission to Venus to help us understand
and see more of the planet than ever before.
But today, Noam’s going to help us determine
whether or not colonizing Venus is a good idea.
Okay, let's put our hypothetical science fiction hats to the test and get started.
We've been trying to colonize Venus for a little
over a year now, and the results have been.
Well...
There's been a bit of trial and error going on with our astronauts.
They keep going out to explore the surface of Venus, but
keep dying.
Why?
Right.
Well, we probably should have listened to Noama bit closer,
because it turns out the Venusian surface is incredibly dangerous.
Three reasons why.
Venus has one of the hottest
surface temperatures of any planet, even Mercury.
The surface temperatures reach 467 ºC (872 º F).
That's hot enough to melt lead
or some unsuspecting astronauts.
But let's say we somehow managed to build
super heat resistant astronaut suits.
Well, you'd still be met with incredible pressure.
The atmospheric pressure on Venus is equivalent
to what you'd experience at a depth of 900 m (2950 ft) underwater.
This would instantly crush any astronaut.
It would also crush and destroy your spaceship as you land.
And if you managed to avoid all that, which you won't, but let's say you do,
you'll also have to deal with a corrosive atmosphere and acid rain.
These conditions are powerful enough to destroy your equipment
and eventually melt your skin.
Hmm. Okay.
I don't think this is going to work out.
Let's jump ahead and try to terraform Venus to make it more like Earth
In order to make it to this future, we're going to need a lot of smart programmers.
So if you want to be part of this journey, well,
you better start learning how to code.
That's why I've been using the sponsor of today's video boot.dev.
It's like an online RPG that teaches you programing skills.
The platform is full of leveling up and quests
that are designed to get you writing code and launching as fast as possible.
You can also gain experience in backend development with Python
and GO programing languages, so if you're ever stuck,
you can always check out the Discord
where the community can help you with any problems.
Best of all, if you're a programmer, you can earn some serious scratch.
In 2023, the median salary for backend
developer careers was over $100,000.
And a lot of the time you get to work from home.
So click on the link in the description and use the code.
WHATIF to get 25% off your first payment with boot.dev.
That can either be for a month or a full year.
Instead of reading about it in textbooks.
Start your coding journey with boot.dev.
So we've been attempting to terraform Venus,
and it's been a pretty tricky process.
The first problem we'd need to solve would be the atmosphere.
To make it similar to what we have on Earth, we'd need to eliminate the carbon
dioxide and sulfuric clouds.
In theory, we could introduce genetically
engineered microorganisms that absorb carbon dioxide.
But then there's the scorching temperature on Venus.
Now, solving this could be done in multiple ways.
One of them involves setting up solar shades in space.
This would redirect the sun's rays so they don't hit Venus,
which would reduce the solar radiation and cool the planet over time.
This all sounds wicked cool from a science fiction perspective,
but realistically, we're a couple hundred
or thousands of years too early for any of this to be possible.
Okay.
This is really complicated.
Noam, any ideas?
Okay.
Sounds like we should switch our tactics.
If humans were to live on Venus.
Well, it technically couldn't be on the surface.
That would just cost too much money.
Time and technology.
That's not available yet.
Maybe it's not about living on the surface,
but instead living right above it.
Let's fast forward
Okay.
After years of experimentation,
we've finally found the answer about how to live on Venus.
I think.
The new plan is to create a cloud city
50 km (31 mi) above Venus’ surface.
Arguably, this could be one of the most comfortable places
for humans to exist in our solar system besides Earth.
So up here in the clouds, it would feel like a nice summer day
and the atmospheric pressure wouldn't crush you.
Sounds good to me, but what would you live in exactly?
Well, we'd create blimps made of Teflon that could be suspended in the clouds.
Each blimp could have a different purpose and have different groups of people
within it, all connected with covered bridges
so you can travel from one end to the other.
We'd also be protected from any harmful solar
radiation due to Venus's thick atmosphere.
That's something Mars can't provide.
But despite us making significant progress,
these clouds cities wouldn't be without their shortcomings.
Okay.
We've been expanding and living in these cloud colonies for over six years now.
We should also mention that you and your space colleagues have been working a ton.
Hey, we never said building a new population
on an entirely different planet would be easy.
If you're going to be one of the people in charge of colonizing Venus,
you can expect nonstop workdays.
From researching the planet
to just setting things up for your daily life and survival.
You'd need to build cloud ships that can provide food through
hydroponic gardening and solar paneled ships that can provide power.
This would require an incredible amount of skill and resources
and oops, I forgot to mention
another extremely dangerous thing that you need to be aware of.
That's the sulfuric acid clouds.
They're going to be tricky to avoid even being 50 km (31 mi) above the surface.
Remember, these things are hazardous and could easily melt your skin.
Now, not all areas in this cloud city would have these clouds, luckily,
and the problems might get even worse
as we progress to our next phase in populating Venus
Okay.
We've been populating Venus for nearly 30 years now.
Hundreds of astronauts have come and gone.
Some have even started having children,
creating new generations of native Venusians.
You've kept busy maintaining and building
these cloud ships while learning more about the planet.
But over the decades, you've been here,
life hasn't been nearly as exciting as you thought it might be.
And thanks to the acid clouds,
it's likely you wouldn't be able to spend much time outside either.
Living in these cloud ships.
Doesn't sound all that great.
Sure, you'd be creating a new world for humans
to live in, but there wouldn't be much exploring.
It would just be going from ship to ship, maintaining them
and getting to research a surface that's 50 kilometers below you.
Sounds like a tiring and somewhat sad existence.
Would it be worth it?
But that doesn't mean our hopes for humans becoming
an interstellar civilization are misguided.
So maybe populating Venus isn't the best idea.
After all, it's impractical in many ways impossible
and seems like a sad existence for humans anyway.
Want to suggest what planet we'd go to next?
Well, check out our Patreon where you can get front of the line access
to suggest and vote on the next stories we cover.
Maybe one of you will suggest living on Mars to see how that goes.
But that sounds like a story for another,.
WHAT IF.