Although many people think that Mars is our next stop, since it is in many ways the mirror image of Earth, NASA has been toying with the idea of life on Venus, which is also called Earth's evil twin, for some time. They developed the concept of a floating city that would grow in its atmosphere and enable permanent settlement. The project is called HAVOC.
Earth and Mars they are quite similar. They have similar composition of the atmosphere, which are the closest of all in the Solar System, and it is true that Mars is relatively cold (-63 degrees), and is the probability of existence of water a plant so strong that it diligently warms the hope that one day we will be able to live on Mars. On top of that, a day on Mars is almost long 25 hours, which means that our biorhythm it even synchronizes to this rhythm more easily than to the rhythm on Earth, since our internal period is exactly around 25 hours. But why go so far when our nearest neighbor has it just as, if not more, home? At Venus namely, to this Earth twin. Evil? A matter of perspective. They are similar in size, mass, density, gravity and composition. So why don't we get on the first Space Shuttle and go there instead of Mars?
Probably because it's like hell there. It is the hottest planet in the Solar System, where the temperature is 465 degrees Celsius, which is enough to melt the metal. In addition, it has dense clouds of hot toxic gases and, as a result, a dense atmosphere, the pressure of which is for 90 of our atmospheres. So the surface of Venus is off the menu. That's why the atmosphere itself, where he plans to move, is more hospitable Langley Research Center (NASA).
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The "colonization" program is called HAVOC ( High Altitude Venus Operational Concept ) and this should be sent there in the initial phase robots, in order to pass the first tests. These would be followed by a human expedition that would initially 30 days stay in orbit, and then a trip to the atmosphere will follow.
The next phase would be for a year to bring ordinary people here and settle them in a floating city, which they are supposed to represent aircraft filled with helium and plastered with solar panels (there are much more sunlight here than on Mars, melts radiation and the same as in Canada). Zeppelins are supposed to be long 129 meters, while those for the robots that will go on reconnaissance are said to be only 31 meters long.
Each balloon vessel will have a special "decoilable" cabin, which is supposed to be what a car is on Earth and is supposed to enable interplanetary trips. The city should float 50 kilometers above the surface, where the atmospheric pressure is the same as Earth's, and the air temperature is "comfortable" 75 degrees. And although at the moment everything is only on paper, which we know can withstand anything, it is definitely an interesting idea.
More information:
sacd.larc.nasa.gov
