Manned missions or colonization of the gas giants.

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the feasibility of sending manned missions to or colonizing the gas giants in our solar system, focusing specifically on the planets themselves rather than their moons. Participants explore various technical, environmental, and practical challenges associated with such endeavors.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Technical explanation

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants express skepticism about the practicality of manned missions to gas giants, citing the long-term nature of stellar travel and the current limitations of space exploration technology.
  • Concerns about radiation exposure are raised, with one participant stating that radiation is a significant barrier to colonization efforts.
  • Questions are posed regarding the concept of colonization without a solid land surface, suggesting alternatives like floating cities and the challenges they would face, including survival in extreme weather conditions.
  • One participant argues that, in principle, colonization could be feasible at the 1 bar pressure level, where conditions are similar to Earth, and discusses the potential for balloon habitats and high-temperature mining vehicles for resource extraction.
  • A reference is made to a science fiction narrative involving cloud cities on Saturn, highlighting the challenges of ambient pressure and temperature, as well as the absence of radiation shielding issues at certain altitudes.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on the feasibility of manned missions or colonization of gas giants. There are multiple competing views regarding the technical challenges, environmental conditions, and overall practicality of such missions.

Contextual Notes

Limitations include unresolved questions about the specific technologies required for survival and colonization, the impact of environmental factors like radiation and pressure, and the feasibility of sustaining human life in such extreme conditions.

Dremmer
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Would it be possible to send manned missions to, or colonize the gas giants? I'm talking about the actual planets, not the moons of the planets.
 
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Manned stellar travel is so far in the future I can see no point in even discussing it. Keep in mind that after 33yrs Voyager has barley left the solar system.

Let's get to a nearby planet before we launch for the stars.
 
No. Why? Radiation!
 
How do you propose to colonize something with no real 'land' surface... a floating city?
And, even if you could, and survive the super-hurricanes, is there any point to it? The moons of the gas giants make much more sense... after Mars of course...
 
Dremmer said:
Would it be possible to send manned missions to, or colonize the gas giants? I'm talking about the actual planets, not the moons of the planets.

No reason why not, in principle. The 1 bar pressure level has near Earth gravity on three of the gas giants and the orbital speed isn't onerous, especially since nuclear ramjets would work better in cold hydrogen/helium mixes than Earth's atmosphere. To explore deeper levels high-pressure gear will be needed, but all the gas giants get hot rapidly at their lower levels, so manned expeditions can only go so deep. Balloon habitats should be feasible, especially using "hot air" for lift. Waste heat from the habitat would work well enough. Heavier elements would be available deeper down but mining vehicles would need to be high temperature operable. Diamond-based machinery probably.
 
IIRC, there was a fair SF tale set in the cloud-cities of Saturn. Fusion-heated mega balloonettes kept domed colonies aloft. One gotcha was that temperature and gravity were okay, but the ambient pressure was significantly higher than 1 Bar. This aided the buoyancy of the colonies, but meant the boiling point of water was dangerously high. A cup of coffee could be hot enough for 3rd degree burns so, IIRC, many cups & mugs had a thermochromic stripe, and trying your brew with a wary fingertip was a routine precaution...

IIRC, the colonies floated well below Saturn's radiation belts, so shielding wasn't an issue, while their altitude and latitude kept them clear of jet-streams...
 

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