Give a Yiti

I recently posted a comment on the colonization of Venus in our own time.  Basically, at an altitude of 55 km above the Venusian surface, you have a largely carbon-dioxide atmosphere at Earth normal pressure, and temperature.  Since an oxygen nitrogen atmosphere at this pressure and temperature masses 1.26 kg/m3 - and since a carbon-dioxide atmosphere at this pressure and temperature masses 3.86 kg/m3 - a spherical pressure vessel containing an oxygen nitrogen atmosphere would have over 2.6 kg/m3 of buoyancy under these conditions.  So, something like Buckminster Fuller's 'cloud nine' city concept could be massively beefed up, and turn into something like Star Wars' fictional 'Cloud City' - as a space colony. http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Cloud_City Supported by a solar powered industrial ring, similar to the one I have proposed for Earth, built of captured asteroid fragments, and powered by solar pumped lasers from orbit, an interesting alternative is possible to orbiting colonies and colonies built on planetary surfaces. This would permit colonization even while the atmosphere was being processed.    H2SO4

I recently posted a comment on the colonization of Venus in our own time.  Basically, at an altitude of 55 km above the Venusian surface, you have a largely carbon-dioxide atmosphere at Earth normal pressure, and temperature.  Since an oxygen nitrogen atmosphere at this pressure and temperature masses 1.26 kg/m3 - and since a carbon-dioxide atmosphere at this pressure and temperature masses 3.86 kg/m3 - a spherical pressure vessel containing an oxygen nitrogen atmosphere would have over 2.6 kg/m3 of buoyancy under these conditions.  So, something like Buckminster Fuller's 'cloud nine' city concept could be massively beefed up, and turn into something like Star Wars' fictional 'Cloud City' - as a space colony. http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Cloud_City <snipped real good stuff Cloud cities!  *Plausible* cloud cities.  I am however, concerned about maintenance of the lifting balloons. How warm is the atmosphere there?  If the gas in the balloons is warmer than the atmosphere it offers better buoyance; but if it's too warm then people cannot go up inside for checking and maintenance work. OK on the *Mercury* ideas.  My Web site has notes on a 50-min talk I do in which the audience is encouraged to rough design an off-Terra settlement during my talk.  I will have to make some changes there, after seeing this, but I cannot do that immediately because I've too much else to do.  But this stuff is *great*.  It restores my good feelings about sci.space.policy as a place the vandals haven't won out yet and good things can happen here. Titeotwawki