How To Terraform Venus (Quickly)

The Kurzgesagt video on teraforming Venus is interesting. It only takes a thousand years, assuming perfect execution. ▶ this video

in “Where did all the starships go?” · View on HN

There's a good video on this that talks about how a similar technique might be used to terraform Venus over hundreds of years [0] The main physics problem I see is that Langrange points are naturally unstable [1], so the bubbles would need to be constantly correcting their orbit. This problem would be compounded by solar radiation "blowing" the bubbles back to Earth. There are clever ways to mitigate this for other designs which are addressed in the video, but I don't see it addressed in the article. Edit: it looks like it is addressed somewhat in the source article linked in another comment, by placing the bubbles a bit further towards the sun than the L1 point to compensate for solar winds. Also, If a bubble does eventually become unstable, they may be cheap enough to destroy it and send another one up. However, the primary problem I see with this approach is that we are simply not politically ready as a species to attempt a global-scale engineering project like that. Some countries may find that climate change actually benefits them [2], or may even impact a geopolitical rival even worse. These countries may be inclined to send a few missiles toward L1 if thats the case. Edit: Additionally, even if this does succeed, countries may see this as an excuse to keep burning stuff despite the additional negative consequences of carbon emissions [3] [0]: ▶ this video [1]: [link] [2]: [link] [3]: [link] .

in “MIT researchers propose Brazil-sized fleet of “space bubbles” to cool the Earth” · View on HN

There is a decent kurzgesagt video explaining what transforming a new planet would look like ▶ this video Essentially it would be almost infinitely easier to reverse all climate change on earth than to make another planet livable but it is in theory possible.

in “Engineers are developing new ways to convert greenhouse gases to fuel” · View on HN

You might enjoy this video on terraforming Venus, ▶ this video I think we should consider the whole solar system our galactic ship while making sure to keep the current habitation quarters in top notch shape.

in “A Roadmap to Interstellar Flight (2016)” · View on HN

This Kurzgesagt video is equally sci-fi, but of the "potentially possible if we wanted to bankrupt the planet" variety. ▶ this video

in “After 53 years, a failed Soviet Venus spacecraft is crashing back to Earth” · View on HN

You'd think Venus would be much worse in this regard than Mars. Then you get these suggestions - ▶ this video - and start thinking...

in “Everything about Mars is the worst (2017)” · View on HN