Monday, December 23, 2019

Life on the edge

Too long in low-G renders the human body difficult, or impossible, to return to Earth (or to Venus, or to 8.5+ G space-stations)... ever again. Exile to the downscale space-stations is, then, a potential punishment, for offenders on either planet, if those planets wish never to see said offenders again.

It also happens that space is large. Around Venus, space is rather larger than one might think. Venus imposes a million km gravity well (lacking a Moon to interfere), and L4 and L5 plateaux on either side of that. As the Venus region gains more orbital craft, it also gains more nooks and crannies for those on the edge of the law.

And the region is a difficult region. People working in low-G often drift into a semilegal lifestyle. Criminals sent thither simply blend in. Gangs and mafias are rife.

Even criminals share some taboos: in orbit, no projectile / ballistic weapons. Space junk is a scourge at orbital velocities. Venus' orbital circumference is not short enough for its spacefaring inhabitants to ignore it.

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