Thursday, January 9, 2020

Life in a weighted balloon

Whether hauling a centrifuge below the farmlands or a rocket below the flotilla, or riding the currents above Maxwell Montes: I've now got a human colony deep down in the vitriol cloudbank, much lower, darker, denser, and hotter than a Mamean farmer should like. This habitat needs extra protection from acid, and extra buoyancy.

Humans will here need protection from the air-pressure. At 40 km over the surface that's already 3 bar, like the Cousteau submarine base. Below the haze at 30 km, we're looking at, what, 8 bar like 80m below our own ocean's surface - more like a nuclear submarine. Humans - and, at a certain depth, electronics - also need air-conditioning. And half the year they're not growing their own food anymore than is the Forever Flotilla (which has a premium on space and cannot count on forever sunlight).

On the (relatively) bright side: the people here (like down in the Maxwell mine) enjoy all the fresh water they can drink and shower with, knowing that the "grey water" can just be sent to the low-altitude reactions which will run pure water as steam, right back home for condensation. Whatever non-water waste they generate can be exposed to the outside where Venus will sterilise it.

Among what the low bubbles all have for trade is excess water, light or heavy. If the low bubble is feeling independently-minded, it has pure hydrogen in its light form; that can go into balloons, to sell goods on the side. Those balloons with the low-colony's Less Official exports might have beacons so that the buyer can retrieve them with acid-protected drones.

Ishtar's installation serves cloudcities at 50-5 km up. Aphrodite's warehouse will serve the flying port at 70 km.

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