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View Full Version : Inhabiting gaseus planets (such as Jupiter,


MathematicalPhysicist
Feb17-11, 01:39 PM
Is there someway to inhabit the giant planets in our solar system? (I don't mean on their moons, but actually on the planet itself).

Chronos
Feb17-11, 02:12 PM
Jupiter does not have a solid surface. After descending through its thick atmospere you would encounter liquid hydrogen. The atmospheric pressure there is thousands of times that of earth. Much more practical to take up residence on one of the moons.

qraal
Feb17-11, 03:45 PM
Is there someway to inhabit the giant planets in our solar system? (I don't mean on their moons, but actually on the planet itself).

Aerostat habitats are the usual option - hot hydrogen balloons being the most relevant. Given strong enough walls a low-pressure habitat could float in the denser, lower layers if the planet's temperature profile isn't too steep - unfortunately it is pretty hot in all our Solar System's gas planets at the relevant densities. But, in principle, there's nothing stopping submarine like aerostats if the planet is cool enough.