(2019 Archived) - ARGUMENT - III: The Low Martian Surface Temperatures vs. the Earth-Like Venusian Atmospheric Temperatures.

 Having written this in 2019, and originally published in 2021.. when I was 15 and 17, there would be inaccuracies that I would correct here. Having removed it, I'm publishing  again, for sake of completion so that the efforts wouldn't have gone to vain: Most of this still stands true 

Life had evolved to thrive at many different temperatures – some like the cold, some like the hot, and some like the moderate – but not to a wide range of temperature individually. We humans, technically being tropical mammals, tend to like temperature to be moderate. Yet, we still find this tropical mammal with the taste of moderate temperature, accustomed to live in more extreme conditions from the blazing heat of the desert to the freezing cold of the tundra. Taking the tundra as an example, evolution would have evolved these tropical mammals into bearing fur coats and hypodermal layers of fat. Yet, the people who live there are still the naked apes as all of humanity is – they are still tropical mammals with a taste of moderate temperature. So how do we do this? It is because of technology – fire, artificial wool clothing, etc. – and mainly our intelligence. Put in a different way, we’ve created life-support systems to deal with our needs in extreme environments.

Simply, we need life-support systems to help us live in environments which aren’t ideal to be lived-in. Those systems would create an environment which is as Earth-like as possible, for the circumstances of the greater environment. The alien worlds of our solar system and the vacuum of space aren’t ideal places for humanity to thrive on, which is why any human who would live there, must live under the care life-support systems. Typically, such life-support systems would deal with giving and circulating air of ideal composition, provide right pressure and temperature, means of life processes, protection from radiation, etc. Still, life-support in terms of usage in completely alien environments are quite costly and must be used for factors where most necessary.

First, let’s acquire Mars as an example, in relation to its surface temperature: The average surfaces temperature ranges at -63^oC^[15],which along with the low atmospheric pressure, renders the crew to live under heavier life-support systems. Heavier, life-support is synonymous for additional expenditure and higher cost-of-living.  

But, how does the temperature of the Venusian cloud-cities compare?

  

Retrieved from: - Landis, G.A. (2010, January). Low-altitude Exploration of the Venus atmosphere by Balloon. [Paper available online and for download at https://ntrs.gov/search.jsp?R=20110016033].

The above diagram is the fluctuation of the Venusian atmospheric temperature as a function of its altitude ^[16]. It reveals how temperature changes with altitude. Therefore, by logic, there has to be an altitude where the temperatures are Earth-like. But what altitude could it be? What is the temperature at the 1 bar altitude?

Altitude (km)	Temperature (◦C)	Atmospheric Pressure (bar)
0	462	92.1
5	424	66.65
10	385	47.39
15	348	33.04
20	306	22.52
25	264	14.93
30	222	9.851
35	180	5.917
40	143	3.501
45	110	1.979
50	75	1.066
55	27	0.5314
60	-10	0.2357
65	-30	0.09765
70	-43	0.0369
80	-76	0.00476
90	-104	0.0003736
100	-112	0.0000266

 

    The above table depicts the varying temperatures and pressures of the different altitudes of the Venusian atmosphere ^[17]. The closest thing to 1 bar (1.006bars) is found at altitude of 50km – which has a manageable yet disappointing temperature of 75◦C. Yet, what if we were to float at the more comfortable temperature of 27◦C? That would require the sacrifice of the 1 bar pressure for 0.5314 bars; not a good trade-off. How about going somewhere in-between it? Then we would receive a manageable temperature of somewhere between 30-40◦C for a manageably lower pressure ^[1]. An archetypal human is capable of comfortably performing at ‘manageably lower pressures’, which is why we are able to subsist at the higher altitudes of the mountains.

       Those who live by the Himalayas are accustomed to living in the lowest atmospheric pressures on the Earth, which might even be harsher than the manageable pressures outside the cloud-cities at the 50-55km altitudes ^[1].

       The human has the ability to ideally live at temperatures between 30-40◦C, and some people deal with those temperatures here on Earth – some even for their whole lives! But, to keep our Venusians more comfortable, light thermal protection and air-conditioning could be used. It’s that simple! As for pressure, it’d be slightly lower than 1 bar, but as easily manageable by the human physique. That again means that life-support with regard to pressure would be unnecessary. Again there would be no need for pressurized suits, and no worries of the cities or habitats explosively decompressing when serious compromised with plenty of time to repair any damage. That sounds like a double bonus!

    No human is able to withstand or endure a global average coldness of -63◦C. No human is capable of surviving the critically low atmospheric pressure, all around the red planet. In order to survive, the Martians must seek refuge in expensive and heavy life-support systems. Still, the Venusians do need a life-support system for circulation and fabrication of necessary resources like air, sustainable development and many more. The same is true for Mars. But, since life-support with regards to pressure and temperature are obsolescent in relation to the Venusian cloud-cities – they are simply not needed. It would be an enormous cut in cost for life-support with less expense of the Earth, and relatively lower cost-of-living for the Venusians.

      As for Mars, what more can possibly go wrong with regard to temperature? It is that Martian temperature varies seasonally: Depending on where and when, the Martian colonies could experience temperatures as low as -143^oC at the polar winters, and a maximum of 35^oC during the equatorial summer^[15].  The seasonal variations of Martian temperatures are not as influential on the Martian lifestyle as our previous points, but still pose a subtle threat. Metals expand upon rising of temperature and contract upon its fall. Thereby, metallic Martian structures are at a risk of tear-and-wear along prolonged periods of time, owing to the expansion and contraction of metal over the Martian seasons.

       On the contrary, “The upper cloud level stays at much the same temperature day round, year round”^[8]. That is, tear-and-wear upon expansion-and-contraction of metal due to temperature change is a risk which the Venusians might not have to deal with. Still, it must be taken to notice that Martian temperatures don’t fluctuate much either. But, the temperature range does fluctuate wildly, from summer to winter and vice versa. Now, let’s prepare an assemblage of points regarding the effects of the Venusian cloud-top temperatures and the Martian surface temperatures: (1) the cloud-top temperatures are Earth-like and hospitable. (2) The Martian temperatures are un-survivably low.(3) The Martians would require heavy life-support and thermal protection to deal the low temperatures with other factors. (4) The Venusians would require less life-support and thermal protection for the ideal cloud-top temperatures and other factors. (5) Martian temperatures vary seasonally and subject metallic structures to tear-and-wear. (6) The cloud-top temperatures are always constant with no fear of metallic structures being thermally subjected to tear-and-wear. (7) Dealing with the cloud-top temperatures bears a low cost. (8) Dealing with Martian temperatures would be much more costly. From the aforementioned eight points, we can conclude that Venus is temperature-wise ideal for colonization with the assistance of the Venusian cloud-cities. 

[8] Walker, R. (2014, January 12). Will we build colonies that float over Venus like Buckminster Fuller’s “Cloud Nine?”  Retrieved from (https://www.science20.com/robert_inventor/will_we_build_colonies_that_float_over_venus_like_ buckminster_fullers_cloud_nine-127573).

[15] Wikipedia (at 2019, February). Retrieved from (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars).

[16] Landis, G.A. (2010, January). Low-altitude Exploration of the Venus atmosphere by Balloon. [Paper available online and for download at https://ntrs.gov/search.jsp?R=20110016033].

[17] Wikipedia (at 2019, February). Retrieved from (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus).

Achinthya Nanayakkara (30.03.2025)

Originally published - 2021 (now removed)

Originally written - 2019