Space & Astronomy/Space and Astronomy (October 1993).iso/mac/TEXT/SPACEDIG/V16_3/V16NO379.TXT

Internet Message Format | 1993-07-13 | 29KB

Date: Sun, 28 Mar 93 05:05:36
From: Space Digest maintainer <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: Space Digest V16 #379
To: Space Digest Readers
Precedence: bulk


Space Digest                Sun, 28 Mar 93       Volume 16 : Issue 379

Today's Topics:
               25 kg. to Venus, how much would it cost?
             Alumnium was available in Elizabethan times?
                  Alyeska in Space, Corps in Space.
               Color temp. of sun and earth from moon.
                       Coral and Dyson Sphere..
                      Delta II Launch/Teather...
             Flight time comparison: Voyager vs. Gallileo
Gravity waves, was: Predicting gravity wave quantization & Cosmic Noise (3 msgs)
                      Magellan Update - 03/22/93
                        Mexican Space Program?
                          More on Start SLV
                    Orbital Skysurfing Club/DTO...
             Russia's OPERATIONAL Starwars Defense System
Speculation: the extension of TCP/IP and DNS into large light lag enviroments
       the call to space (was Re: Clueless Szaboisms ) (2 msgs)
            Timid Terraformers (was Re: How to cool Venus)
                        Uplink/downlink rates
                       Venus, timid terraform.
                         Why is Venus so hot?

    Welcome to the Space Digest!!  Please send your messages to
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----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: 27 Mar 1993 21:41:23 GMT
From: George William Herbert <[e-mail]>
Subject: 25 kg. to Venus, how much would it cost?
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Henry Spencer) writes:
>For maybe $15M you can get Pegasus plus a spin-stabilized kick motor,
>which will give you about 75kg to Earth escape; with *another* kick
>stage that might get you to Venus.  It will be tricky, because you
>absolutely must be able to do mid-course corrections -- solid kick
>motors are not very precise -- and you don't have much mass to spare.

I've got plans lying around (somewhere...) for a kick stage based on the
French 6 ton thrust hypergolic motor (neat motor, btw, ceramic chamber
and nozzle increase heat and decrease cooling propellant losses...)
which will throw a 25 kg payload to Mars off a standard Pegasus.
Since it's liquid fueled it's got pretty precise injection, and I
was able to fit about 50 m/s more delta-V on board in little thrusters
for midcourse burns.

[which came about after one of the "stupid minirover" presentations
at ISU this last summer, but I digress 8-) ]

I don't remember the delta-V to Venus offhand, but if it's comperable
then you can do it off a Pegasus.  Cost, well, development cost for
the stage will probably be tens of millions, but flight costs should
be on the order of $5 million, so a Pegasus at $12M plus the stage
makes $17 million, more if you have to pay development (or amortize
it over some launches... which you really should do).

-george william herbert
Retro Aerospace

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 27 Mar 1993 19:36:37 GMT
From: INNES MATTHEW <[e-mail]>
Subject: Alumnium was available in Elizabethan times?
Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.materials

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Paul Campbell) writes:
>Ahem .... "Aluminum" is the name used by people in the US, "Aluminium" is
>the proper chemical name and the name used (and pronounced) by everyone
>else in the world. Aluminum is just one of those quaint things about the US
>(like inches and writing the date backwards).
>
>    Paul

    Interesting.  I've always understood that "Aluminium" was a purely
British pronounciation (note that I am not in the USA), and that "Aluminum"
was in fact the proper word.



    Followup to email or alt.usage.english.  Let's not clutter the place
up with non-space-junk.

--
                        Matt Innes
                        <[e-mail]>

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 27 Mar 1993 19:52:59 GMT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Alyeska in Space, Corps in Space.
Newsgroups: sci.space

Here is an interesting idea of how to get commerical interests into space..

Everyone has heard of the Alaska Pipeline? Well part of how it all works (in
most part that is) is that there is Alyeska (its a holding company (I think
this is the right word)), which basically acts as a front corp for other
companies, namely Arco, Exxon, BP, Union, Standard and such.. Basically acting
as a company to get the money, regulate and handle construction and maintenance
of the pipeline.. Maybe the major companies in the US and world can do the
same..

Maybe use the space Alyeska as a was to build a space station or a space colony
(on mars more than likely), kind of like the one in "Total Recall"..

A Alyeska that spreads the profits amongst the member companies and recieve R&D
and such from the member companies..

==
Michael Adams, [e-mail] -- I'm not high, just jacked

Hope everyone understands...

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 27 Mar 93 22:08:09 GMT
From: Wyatt Miler <[e-mail]>
Subject: Color temp. of sun and earth from moon.
Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.astro

I am looking for information on the color temp. and intensity of the sun
and earth as seen from the pole of the moon.  I need the data across the
entire rise and setting of the sun and moon for a project I am working on
for a video class.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
   - Wyatt -

Internet: [e-mail]


------------------------------

Date: Sat, 27 Mar 1993 19:40:23 GMT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Coral and Dyson Sphere..
Newsgroups: sci.space

So I am wierd..

I once had an idea on how to create a dyson (sp, or dysean?) Sphere, using a
genetically engineered animal similar to a coral.. Namely using a selection of
coral and other contructs to construct the sphere (the growth of the coral
would have to be speeded up thou), one group to collect and convert the base
materials, the others group to build it.. Now to figure out how it would be
able to hanbdle space and it might work sometime in the future..

A sphere or a Ringworld base structure is more like it, not sure how to do the
rest.. But Im sure someone can figure this out..

How to get the coral to build the "reef" in the shape wanted??

==
Michael Adams, [e-mail] -- I'm not high, just jacked

------------------------------

Date: 27 Mar 93 14:46:10 EST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Delta II Launch/Teather...
Newsgroups: sci.space

>Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
>From: [e-mail]
>Date: 26 Mar 93  09:28:52

>So what did happen with the tethered satellite that was to have been launched
>on March 18  by a Delta II from the Cape?

It is still inside the Delta II Rocket which is sitting on the Pad. It is
currently scheduled for launch Sunday March 28, 1993 10:13 to 10:41 pm EST.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bob Waterman / NASA Space Shuttle Main Engine Avionics
[e-mail]
Disclaimer: This is NOT an Official NASA statement...I'm Just an Engineer
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 27 Mar 93 15:50:25 GMT
From: "Lowell O Specht Jr." <[e-mail]>
Subject: Flight time comparison: Voyager vs. Gallileo
Newsgroups: sci.space

[e-mail] (Pat) writes:


>Actually,  Henry mentioned to me, that the T4 schroud is
>big enough to hold the Centaur, so something like
>Pluto Fast Flyby, could  use a T4-Centaur, with a
>second centaur under the shroud, and maybe a small solid kick motor
>also.

WRONG!
The General Dynamics Centaur use by the Titan IV ELV weighs approximately
55000 lbs when loaded with fuel. There is NO WAY that a Titan IV could lift
TWO Centaurs much less a small solid kick motor and a probe on top of that.
In addition, The first centaur is already included in the shroud. The shroud
or payload fairing bolts on to the top of the same skirt that the centaur
is mounted on.
--
Regards,
Lowell

******************************************************************************
* Lowell Specht                          *                                   *
* Marietta, GA  USA                      *                                   *
* home: [e-mail]                 *      Go Big Orange!               *
* work: [e-mail] *                                   *
******************************************************************************
* My comments are my own and not my employer's.                              *
******************************************************************************

------------------------------

From: Cameron Randale Bass <[e-mail]>
Subject: Gravity waves, was: Predicting gravity wave quantization & Cosmic Noise
Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.astro,sci.physics,alt.sci.planetary

Date: Sat, 27 Mar 1993 17:12:34 GMT
Lines: 14
Source-Info:  Sender is really [e-mail]
Source-Info:  Sender is really [e-mail]

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Bruce Scott) writes:

[Tom's stuff deleted in the interests of unfairly making
 the statement below seem more general than was probably intended]

>The first sentence is incorrect. "Existence" is undefined unless it is
>synonymous with "observable" in physics. We cannot observe more than
>the four dimensions we know about.

     Dong ....  Dong ....  Dong ....

     Do I hear the death-knell of string theory?

                             dale bass

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 27 Mar 1993 16:40:51 GMT
From: Cameron Randale Bass <[e-mail]>
Subject: Gravity waves, was: Predicting gravity wave quantization & Cosmic Noise
Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.astro,sci.physics,alt.sci.planetary

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Herman Rubin) writes:
>In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Cameron Randale Bass) writes:
>>In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Nick Haines) writes:
>
>>>The curvature in which we're interested is thus a property of the
>>>surface (or space) itself, and does not require the concept of an
>>>`embedding space.' Since we can never observe such a space, why
>>>suggest it exists? It's not required by our theory, it's no part of
>>>our description of the universe, and is thoroughly bogus.
>
>>>Should this go in the FAQ?
>
>>     No.  There is no intrinsic reason we should restrict inquiry to the
>>     "ant's eye view".  If it is useful to embed the space in another,
>>     we should go right ahead.
>
>>     "Existence" is a rather tenuous concept in this context.  Do
>>     complex numbers "exist"?  How about tensors?  How about the
>>     "space" itself.  Why do you think physical space is some sort
>>     of local manifold describable by our mathematics?
>
>We cannot always embed a "curved" space in a flat Euclidean space
>isometrically.  One way of looking at the conditions is that the
>squares of the distances between points forms a matrix of finite
>rank, and even a little more is needed.  Even embedding a sphere
>in the Euclidean space of one more dimension changes distances;
>the distance ON THE SPHERE between antipodes in pi*r, whereas in
>the Euclidean space the diameter is of length 2*r.  On the other
>hand, it can be embedded topologically in a space of enough more
>dimensions.

     I was under the impression we were talking generally about embedding
     4-space in higher dimensional spaces.  However, I was talking
     specifically about the restriction of physical inquiry to
     local analysis in 4-space.

>As to "our" mathematics and the existence of mathematical constructs,
>there is nothing in mathematics which derives from the physical universe,
>although that universe may to some extent direct where we look.  The
>existence and uniqueness, apart from isomorphism (it is impossible to
>tell them apart) of the complex numbers is as nothing to a mathematician.
>Tensor spaces are a little harder.  Mathematics, as such, has nothing
>directly to do with the real world.

     The context was physical description using mathematics.
     Existence was being used in a very loose intuitive sense;  that's
     the reason the word was surrounded by quotation marks.  The thrust
     of my remarks was to question the assertion that we are
     restricted to a certain class of models because they 'exist' in
     some very loose physical sense.  I was questioning what 'existence'
     meant in this context.

>However, the statement that our physical space is as you have described
>it is not mathematics at all, but physics.  To the extent that the
>statement is accurate, mathematical results can be used to tell us
>something about the real world.

     The point was that there was no reason to restrict our
     our viewpoint to a strictly local description, and if we gain insight
     from embedding a space in a higher dimensional space, then we
     should go ahead.  It's a troubling FAQ answer that would
     imply unnecessary restriction on inquiry.

     As far as physics goes, I would assert that the description of
     spacetime as a GR manifold in this manner is improper at certain
     scales.  So, where does the mathematics end and the physics
     begin?  At what point does the energy-momentum tensor become
     'real'?  And do particles 'actually' evaluate the energy-momentum tensor
     while flying around?   The point is that we never directly 'observe'
     large portions (or maybe any) of the mathematical machinery we use to make
     physical predictions.  So, claiming that we are forbidden in principle to
     take the problem to a global analysis in higher dimensions
     because we can only 'physically see' the problem locally seems
     silly.

     I was also trying to make a little joke with 'intrinsic' giving
     everyone a wonderful straight line.  However, that appears to
     have fallen into the black hole of comedy.

                           dale bass

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 27 Mar 1993 20:57:49 GMT
From: Bruce Scott <[e-mail]>
Subject: Gravity waves, was: Predicting gravity wave quantization & Cosmic Noise
Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.astro,sci.physics,alt.sci.planetary

[e-mail] (Cameron Randale Bass) writes:
>[I had written...]

>>    [...]             "Existence" is undefined unless it is
>>synonymous with "observable" in physics. We cannot observe more than
>>the four dimensions we know about.
>
>     Dong ....  Dong ....  Dong ....
>
>     Do I hear the death-knell of string theory?

I'll stick to the four-space we have measured, and ignore the flights of
fancy of out-of-touch theorists.

I'll get interested in this kind of stuff when it is mathematically
rigorous, as the loop-variable school is diligently trying to do with
their stuff.
            :-)

Gruss,
Dr Bruce Scott                             The deadliest bullshit is
Max-Planck-Institut fuer Plasmaphysik       odorless and transparent
bds at spl6n1.aug.ipp-garching.mpg.de                 -- W Gibson


--
   The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the University of
     North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Campus Office for Information
        Technology, or the Experimental Bulletin Board Service.
           internet:  laUNChpad.unc.edu or 152.2.22.80

------------------------------

Date: 27 Mar 1993 13:32:22 -0500
From: Pat <[e-mail]>
Subject: Magellan Update - 03/22/93
Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.astro,alt.sci.planetary

I would guess, then that  based upon  what I have read, some sort
of mixed mode science mission could be conducted.

Surface scattering/de-polarization studies do seem  to
be a better science mission  with allocated money,  with a
damaged space-craft.   Maybe, while this was going on,  they
could image some of hte bigger gaps  and ship that back with the
engineering data.

Only some very small segmetns  could be returned,  but if the
money could be found, and it could be tacked into a
surface studies experiment,  why not?

pat

------------------------------

Date: 27 Mar 93 19:01:24 GMT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Mexican Space Program?
Newsgroups: sci.space

Is there any info on a mexican space program? Now with the trade agreement will
there be a space agreement (if not already in effect) between the US, Canada,
and Mexico?

==
Michael Adams, [e-mail] -- I'm not high, just jacked

------------------------------

Date: 27 Mar 93 09:58:03 PST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: More on Start SLV
Newsgroups: sci.space

     I did a little more research on the Russians' Start SLV, and
came up with the following.


    "A mobile launcher and missile, based on SS-20 IRBM experience,
has been proposed by the Soviet Technopribor organization in
conjunction with its direction to investigate methods of converting
from defense to commercial production. Aimed at potential customers
requiring low mass, low cost payloads in LEO, the launch system, named
START, could be developed in only four years with ten test launches.
[Comment: the SS-25 is basically an SS-20 with a third stage and
single RV instead of a PBV and three RVs.]
    "A complete production run of 300 launch vehicles (150 for Soviet
use, 150 for sale abroad) could be accomplished in 10 years. The
launcher would be transportable, permitting launches virtually
anywhere in the world. The U.S. firm of Space Commerce Corporation
signed a memorandum of understanding with Technopribor on 29 July 1989
to investigate further the technical and marketing feasibility of the
concept." [Accompanying figure shows sketch of a START being launched
from a 7-axle TEL.]

The Soviet Year in Space, 1989
by Nicholas Johnson
Teledyne Brown Engineering, Colorado Springs, 1990



   "Development of the Start 1 satellite launcher has won funding from
Russia's IVK commercial joint-stock company.
    "Start 1, to be built by the Kompleks technical centre for
transportable launchers, will be able to lift off from anywhere in the
world into a variety of low Earth orbits, with payloads of between
350kg and 500kg.  After a demonstration flight, the launcher will
compete in international markets, offering further competition for US
small satellite launchers and at lower prices."

Flight International, June 30, 1992, p. 18 [Excerpts]



     Note that the 1.1 ton (presumably 1 metric ton) figure for the
payload mass quoted in the AP story posted earlier is considerably
greater than the number the Flight International story gives.

     Early orbital elements for the satellite, 1993 14A (NORAD catalog
22561) and the Start upper stage (NORAD 22562) are:

1 22561U 93 14  A 93 85.31764676 -.00064732  00000-0 -25602-1 0    45
2 22561  75.7643  33.2113 0199082  97.6221 264.6772 14.19597660   113

1 22562U 93 14  B 93 85.31470950 -.00049311  00000-0 -18230-1 0    40
2 22562  75.7658  33.2158 0173498  98.4910 263.6018 14.25060020   110

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 27 Mar 1993 19:44:39 GMT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Orbital Skysurfing Club/DTO...
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (jeff findley) writes:
> In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] writes:
> |> Anyone want to start a Skysurfing Club,
>                           /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
> I think this guy has been watching a cartoons a LITTLE bit too much.
> Disney's Tailspin is not a very good engineering reference :-).
>
> |>                                         I know its a little bit easrly for
> |> this, but this is a Development Test Objective idea club/think tank idea.. Who
> |> wants to be Club President or Email contact site??
> |>
> |> ==
> |> Michael Adams, [e-mail] -- I'm not high, just jacked
>
> Jeff
>
> --
> +---------------------------------+------------------------------------------+
> | Jeff Findley, SDRC              | This is a test of the .signature system. |
> | Cincinnati, OH                  | Remember, this is only a test.           |
> | e-mail: [e-mail]   | All opinions above are my own, I think.  |
> +---------------------------------+------------------------------------------+


No played Traveller to many times.. So Jeff if you have nothing to add to the
discussion, then keep your mouth shut.. I am serious about this idea, more for
a future idea, but still its an interesting fun idea..

One of the basic ideas to be used is an asbestos "surfboard" and a man/woman in
a space suit.. Some form of manuvering jets and away we go, now to get into
orbit..

==
Michael Adams, [e-mail] -- I'm not high, just jacked

------------------------------

Date: 27 Mar 1993 14:47:50 -0500
From: Pat <[e-mail]>
Subject: Russia's OPERATIONAL Starwars Defense System
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (fred j mccall 575-3539) writes:
|In <[e-mail]> [e-mail] writes:
|>                 RUSSIA'S OPERATIONAL STARWARS DEFENSE SYSTEM
|I am *really* starting to wonder about the academic reputation of this
|school, what with Mr McElwaine claiming to have a BS in Physics and
|Astronomy from it.  Can anyone who's had any sort of real education
|actually believe the manure he innundates the net with?  Can't anyone


There are numerous people in Net-Land who are in serious need of
Psycho-Pharmaceuticals.

------------------------------

Date: 27 Mar 1993 17:39:52 GMT
From: "M. Sean Bennett" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Speculation: the extension of TCP/IP and DNS into large light lag enviroments
Newsgroups: alt.internet.services,sci.space

>Why is it a dangerous precedent? Should NASA or the CIS be building bases
>that aren't under any jurisdiction?

It is my fault for not making myself clearer.

The Moon, Mars, etc. are "claimed for all mankind".

The dangerous precedent is the exporting of our national bigotries - irespective
of the nation involved.

What is this COPOUS treaty you speak of?

Sean

------------------------------

Date: 27 Mar 1993 13:22:36 -0500
From: Pat <[e-mail]>
Subject: the call to space (was Re: Clueless Szaboisms )
Newsgroups: sci.space

Will  blats about how  japan is going to rise again on a nuclear phoenix.


Please document the ROI for Nuclear Power,  once all costs have been
allocated.

pat

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 27 Mar 1993 18:06:40 -0600
From: "Phil G. Fraering" <[e-mail]>
Subject: the call to space (was Re: Clueless Szaboisms )
Newsgroups: sci.space,talk.politics.space

In sci.space you write:

>In article <1ot012$[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Pat) writes:
>>
>> Nuclear Power proved to be a technological rathole.
>>

>    This is not correct.  Alot of knowledge and technology came out of
>all of this.  Also, you may note that I am in Japan =  First hand knowledge.
>While America is destroying the Nuclear Power Industry.  Japan is building
>their up.  I know what you Americans watch on Televesion, Aniti-Nuclear
>movements in Japan, etc...  What you do not understand is that these are all
>government controlled agencys and the Anti-Nuclear stance is not against Japan
>but the rest of the world.  The Japanese as a result have been very good at
>getting American (**Suckers**) to help them.  Now with Clinton you get the
>final results.  HA HA HA, Jokes on you.

>    The nuclear wastes you are trying to get rid of are the oil of the
>future.

>                            Will...

Hi Will! How's the new kid?

I'm not really sure there _is_ such stuff as nuclear waste, just
not yet recycled nuclear fuel...

Of course, in the oil industry, there is the problem of naturally
occuring nuclear materials that contaminate drill pipe and other
equipment... there _is_ a problem. BUT due to the fact that the
state governor's son-in-law owns the only legal _storage_ site
(it's a storage site, not a dump site: you have to pay, year after
year, for the stuff there) for the stuff, the Louisiana Dept. of
Enviornmental Quality is out there looking at the stuff with
precision instruments for anything above background...

Come to think of it, if nuclear waste is a relevant topic for
sci.space, then this should be too... I think I'll post this
as well as mail.

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 27 Mar 1993 22:45:13 GMT
From: Jeff Bytof <[e-mail]>
Subject: Timid Terraformers (was Re: How to cool Venus)
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]> Callec Dradja <[e-mail]> writes:

>My proposal, I feel, makes more sense in that it is slower and more
>managible. I propose using organisms to fix the CO2 into a solid form.
>Someone suggested carbonate rocks which sound like a good idea to me.

I like that. Perhaps develop enzymes that will convert CO2 and various
other gases absorbed into an organism into fullerenes and "caged
molecules".  Maybe even have the enzymes sort the gases that go inside
the buckyballs!  Then the filled buckyballs are excreted and eventually
drift down to the surface of Venus?  I don't know what the stability
of buckyballs at Venusian surface temperatures are.  Haven't fullerenes
been discovered in rock deposits and by radio astronomers?

-rabjab

------------------------------

Date: 27 Mar 1993 18:45:14 GMT
From: "Kevin W. Plaxco" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Uplink/downlink rates
Newsgroups: sci.space

We've heard lot's of talk about the crippled downlink rate, but
what does loss of the High gain antenna mean for Galileo's uplink
rate?  How does this effect the mission profile?

------------------------------

Date: 27 Mar 93 19:16:19 GMT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Venus, timid terraform.
Newsgroups: sci.space

Sounds liek what is needed to get rid of the problems venus has for human life
is to identify what is there and ways to change it..

Is there a micro that can be planted in the Venusian atmosphere to start the
process of converting the upper atmosphere to what we need to at least a more
manageable compositionthat can then be changed via some means into a more
earthlike atmosphere.. I think what is needed is a plan, namely to start with
the upper atmosphere and work our way down the gravity well and find ways to
change the atmosphere to something that humans can use, maybe not totally
earthlike but nearly so..

Any good plans on how to terraform venus..
==
Michael Adams, [e-mail] -- I'm not high, just jacked

------------------------------

Date: 27 Mar 1993 19:25:38 GMT
From: Aaron Ray Clements <[e-mail]>
Subject: Why is Venus so hot?
Newsgroups: sci.space

[e-mail] writes:

>Seems the way to cool venus down is basically to find some way to burn off the
>Sulfar and all the nasty gases and turn down the green house effect..
>Okay find a microbe to convert the CO2 and other gases for greenhouse into
>oxygen and other gases..

>Oxygen and try to find some way to attract more hydrogen or some way to make
>water (not sure how??).. Im not a technical person but.. I think I have some
>interesting ideas..

>So here is a good question, why is venus so hot? the gasses known and such and
>the effects and such?? We need why so that we can attack the reasons why and
>defeat them or neutralize them... Now what is the parameters for a "normal
>planet" basically so we have something to know how to work towards??


>==
>Michael Adams, [e-mail] -- I'm not high, just jacked


The sulfur has already been "burned" and is in the atmosphere primarily
in the form of sulfur oxides and sulfuric acid.

The reason behind the Venusian temperature is a runaway greenhouse effect.
The thermodynamic (black-body) equilibrium temperature for a body with
Venusian albedo at its orbital distance is actually lower than Earth's
black-body equilibrium temperature.  However, the Venusian atmosphere
is _much_ more optically thick than Earth's.  It's kind of like a Roach
Motel for solar energy; the light can get in, but it can't get out . . .

There's also a small problem in dealing with an atmosphere that has about
a hundred times more pressure at the surface than at Earth.  (Do you think
you could live in a 100atm environment?  :) )

aaron
[e-mail]

------------------------------

End of Space Digest Volume 16 : Issue 379
------------------------------