Terraforming
- Thread starter Chaos
- Start date
I think that by the golden era of the 1100's, terraforming is an established science, maybe an outgrowth of evironmentalism except a few magnitudes of order higher. Yes, the breatheable atmosphere is important, but it would be managed, don't you think? Of course things could be made as complex as one desires, for me simple is better to support the story line.
The fundamental problem is that anything you do to alter the thermal environment or hydrological environment will likely result in changes in breathability by the very nature of the interlock of atmospheric mix and extant life cycles and hydrology.
(which said, if the atmosphere is already breathable, it's either replacement of native biosphere, or hydrological or thermal issues that you're trying to fix.)
To raise temps, you either have to do one or more of:
- darken the surface,
- pump vast amounts of waste heat
- release core heat to the surface faster
- alter the atmosphere by release of greenhouse gasses
- move the planet's orbit
Lets take the least disruptive to local life: waste heat. Build your fusion plants. The end result is helium, and some lithium, carbon, maybe even oxygen. No biggie, right? Well, most of the hydrogen is going to come from water. This releases a lot of oxygen. Oxygen is only useful in partial pressures between 0.1 and 0.4 atmospheres (multiply local pressure times local percent to get partial pressure); outside that range, you get issues. Below it, and you are not terribly active, or you pass out; above 0.4, and the excess O2 is toxic.
Ok, so some greenhouse gasses, instead? Most are themselves toxic to humans... Methane, Carbon Oxides (CO, CO2), Nitrogen Oxides (which combine to make acid rain, no less!)...
Core heat? (AKA Geothermal.) Can result in emissions of multiple toxic gasses in the drilling. In order to terraform using it, you also need to distribute the heat via working fluids (be they liquid or gas) - but this also raises cloud cover, increases albedo, and wrecks local weather patterns until it stabilizes. And on a useful terraforming scale, also can significantly cool the upper mantle, resulting in changes in tectonic activity.... also releasing more toxic fumes, ash, and possibly natural radioactive gasses. (OK boys and girls, Can we say 'Radon'? ... Good! I knew you could!)
Darken the surface: involves altering the plant life and/or dusting the ice caps. Alter the plant life, alter the oxygen cycle, and breathability...
Upping the pressure?
If you take a breathable 50% O2, 5% CO2, 45% N2 0.3 atmosphere, that's a PPO2 of 0.15 atm... about what very high flying pilots get on supplemental oxygen in unpressurized aircraft, BTW. Now, you want to raise it to standard with the hydrogen cracked to fuel your PP... by the time you get to the mildly toxic PPO2 0.45 Atm, you've gone only to 0.6 Atm, and the percentage is now 75% O2, 2.5% CO2, and 22.5% N2, and a PP CO2 that's low enough to cause you to forget to breath... Oh, and at 0.45ATM PPO2, your match will burn your fingers when you light it, your cigarette lighter is a blow torch, etc...
And if you actually raise the atmosphere to standard's 0.75, you're casing blindness.... at least amongst those who haven't burned themselves to death by accidental Apollo One reenactments.
Enoki
SOC-14 1K
Raising a planet's temperature can also be done by:
Crashing a few very large asteroids into it generating lots of heat and new mass
Increasing the atmosphere's thickness to it to retain heat better.
Add heat retentive structures and surfaces. That is pave over the planet with concrete and asphalt.
Crashing a few very large asteroids into it generating lots of heat and new mass
Increasing the atmosphere's thickness to it to retain heat better.
Add heat retentive structures and surfaces. That is pave over the planet with concrete and asphalt.
Crashing the aseroids releases toxic fumes from crust cracking.
Increasing thickness of atmosphere requires adding SOMETHING; the only obvious ones are the CO2, SO2, and H2S from vulcanism, and CO2 and H2O, and cracked out O2 from all the above. Toxic, toxic, and more toxic. Shipping atmo gasses is highly impractical; until you hit the million ton starship, you're not even a drop in the ocean.
the heat retentive surfaces will most likely be replacing the source of the O2 needed... the local vegetation. At least to be of use on a planetary scale.
Increasing thickness of atmosphere requires adding SOMETHING; the only obvious ones are the CO2, SO2, and H2S from vulcanism, and CO2 and H2O, and cracked out O2 from all the above. Toxic, toxic, and more toxic. Shipping atmo gasses is highly impractical; until you hit the million ton starship, you're not even a drop in the ocean.
the heat retentive surfaces will most likely be replacing the source of the O2 needed... the local vegetation. At least to be of use on a planetary scale.
Not to mention potential biosphere eradication...
Terraforming is high tech stuff. MegaTraveller set the TL for it...
And it's certainly NOT mature tech in the 3I!
From MT Ref's Companion, p. 28
Early Weather Control: TL 8
Orbital Cities, Arcologies: TL 9
Undersea and Underice cities: TL 10
Gravitic Structures: TL 11
Major Terraforming, advanced weather control: TL 12
Gravitic Cities: TL13
Mobile Cities: TL14
Complex Terraforming: TL15
Global Terraforming: TL 16
Terraforming of worlds to 800km: TL17
Terraforming of worlds to 4000km: TL18
Terraforming of worlds to Any size: TL19
move worlds with Maneuver drive: TL 20
move worlds with jump drive: TL 21
Orbital Cities, Arcologies: TL 9
Undersea and Underice cities: TL 10
Gravitic Structures: TL 11
Major Terraforming, advanced weather control: TL 12
Gravitic Cities: TL13
Mobile Cities: TL14
Complex Terraforming: TL15
Global Terraforming: TL 16
Terraforming of worlds to 800km: TL17
Terraforming of worlds to 4000km: TL18
Terraforming of worlds to Any size: TL19
move worlds with Maneuver drive: TL 20
move worlds with jump drive: TL 21
For clarity, eliminating the unique city types...
Early Weather Control: TL 8
Major Terraforming, advanced weather control: TL 12
Complex Terraforming: TL15
Global Terraforming: TL 16
Terraforming of worlds to 800km: TL17
Terraforming of worlds to 4000km: TL18
Terraforming of worlds to Any size: TL19
One should note that disintegrators are TL 17, and mature by TL18...Major Terraforming, advanced weather control: TL 12
Complex Terraforming: TL15
Global Terraforming: TL 16
Terraforming of worlds to 800km: TL17
Terraforming of worlds to 4000km: TL18
Terraforming of worlds to Any size: TL19
Oxygen toxicity would be known (and very well could be the taint in non-standard atmospheres) our current O-N state could fall under the heading of a corrosive atmosphere. Heat could also be increased via a refractor or lens. The magic numbers for a habitable planet are your 867 for a t-prime and given nearly limitless energy of fusion ala traveller, alot could be done. Human life needs a biosphere complimentary to it wth all the microbial life necessary, otherwise you don't get the steaks, beer, corn that make life worth living. So humidity and gravity are about as important as a breatheable atmosphere. The TL levels for terraforming are rather vague, what constitutes complex terraforming? Pollutants like Radon can be scrubbed by ionization, once again with nearly limitless energy. What can be done now vs what is done is another subject, I went to a electrical generation/distribution conference as a guest with a bunch of EET's and their take on it was fascinating, our power grid is ancient and wasteful, what could be done with a smart grid would more than recover enough energy rather than building new generation capacity, but a smart grid is only a sexy solution to engineers, so much for democracy. Now on a terraforming project, the financing and end product would be seen as being a hundred or more years off. Certain solutions, like adding the 3/4's nitrogen is possible, even stealing it from another world, because you need it for food production anyways. increasing mass by bringing in planetesimals is a way, though not dropping them in with catastrophic re-entry, they could easly be broken up and have a tug drop them in slowly with an m-drive, same with large chunks of nitrogen or water, there would be some sublimation, but if it was too much, the chunk could be coated to reduce it. even a million ton in system freighter doesn't seem that outlandish, if what it's doing pays off in the long run, this is the economy of scale, the first colonists, are the terraformers, and would reap huge profits in speculation of land later on as the later colonists moved in.
Enoki
SOC-14 1K
I guess that would depend on how you define "terraforming" and the nature of the planet you want to terraform. If it is a dead planet and you want to improve it smashing asteroids into it isn't going to hurt anything. Using icy comets or asteroids to add water to an otherwise dry world is a variant here.
You might also do this to induce rotation. A planet with little rotation is going to be problematic too. For instance, Venus in our own solar system has this problem.
Making greenhouse gasses and other gasses shouldn't be a problem for most space faring tech levels. Mass production of basic products like metals, say steel, and concrete will produce lots of gaseous byproducts. These materials would be necessary at some point in any case so making them and getting a bonus from their "pollution" might be deemed useful in terraforming.
But these are not the kinds of worlds others are suggesting doing it to. If there is no life, there will be very little, if any, molecular oxygen or molecular fluorine. (and where there's one, there won't be the other, amidst that pair, either...). They're just too reactive.
A few ideas I have about terraforming.
1. With control of gravitics, it may not be necessary to terraform the entire planet all at once. If you use gravitics and cutting-edge tractor beam technology you can create domeless dome cities.
2. There will be folks opposed to terraforming for a bunch of religious, ethical, environmental and political reasons and they will be sure to express themselves appropriately.
3. Someone needs to build a comet-scooter ship.
1. With control of gravitics, it may not be necessary to terraform the entire planet all at once. If you use gravitics and cutting-edge tractor beam technology you can create domeless dome cities.
2. There will be folks opposed to terraforming for a bunch of religious, ethical, environmental and political reasons and they will be sure to express themselves appropriately.
3. Someone needs to build a comet-scooter ship.
