Re: [GZG] Habitable solar systems (Was: [GZG] Real Astroplitics)

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http://lists.csua.berkeley.edu/mailman/listinfo/gzg-lOn 5/5/06, Tony
Christney <tchristney@telus.net> wrote:
>
> Cloud City?
>
> Not habitable on the surface, but still has "human" settlements.

Amusingly enough, this was being examined in RL by some NASA scientists
a
few years ago (I don't know what the status of this research is right
now,
though). I had attended a convention a couple years ago where Geoffrey
Landis presented what he and a team of others at the NASA John Glenn
Research Center have been working on (long-term) about floating cities
in
the Venusian atmosphere. It was loosely tied to the Moon-Mars Initiative
George Bush put forth a few years ago (except focusing on Venus, not
Mars
;-) ). I don't remember the details, but at a certain altitude the
temperature is within human tolerances and nowhere nearly as corrosive
as
lower down. These floating habitats would supply themselves with natural
resources mined by corrosive-resistent remote flyers and robots sent
down to
the surface. They had worked out ways using contemporary technology to
extract water from the atomosphere, so all they had to do was grow their
own
food (well, first they have to get us there ;-) ).

Just a little food for thought that floating colonies aren't totally in
the
realm of SF :-)

Mk