|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Prevention of global warming or Venus terraforming
This maybe a rather stupid idea but would it be possible to place a
very large sunshade between Venus and the Sun. I am imagining an ultra thin reflective surface placed in a stable orbit position around the Sun. Maybe a mylar disc slowly spinning to keep it stretched out. Would the light push this like a solar sail or could it be positioned so that gravity cancelled this out ? To kill two birds with one stone this could act as a mirror aiming the suns rays at Mars. If this idea is feasible the same technique could be used to prevent Earth suffering from global warming. The disc would not need to cover the whole Earth, but just enough to cool key areas possibly reflecting the light to provide longer hours of daylight in the North of Canada or Russia in winter. |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
Prevention of global warming or Venus terraforming
In article ,
Stephen wrote: This maybe a rather stupid idea but would it be possible to place a very large sunshade between Venus and the Sun. I am imagining an ultra thin reflective surface placed in a stable orbit position around the Sun. Maybe a mylar disc slowly spinning to keep it stretched out. Would the light push this like a solar sail or could it be positioned so that gravity cancelled this out ? It can be done, although it is a bit trickier than it looks. See the McInnes paper on this in the Sept/Oct 2002 JBIS. To kill two birds with one stone this could act as a mirror aiming the suns rays at Mars. No, that is out of the question. For one thing, the constraints on the position and angle of such a sunshade prevent pointing its reflections at a moving target. For another, the beam would not hold together well enough to be useful over that distance. (There are fundamental limits on how tight a beam of sunlight you can make with lenses and mirrors -- the Sun is not a point source and that turns out to matter a lot.) However, you *can* build a solar reflector to hover on light pressure near Mars. (McInnes again, JBIS March/April 2002.) If this idea is feasible the same technique could be used to prevent Earth suffering from global warming. It's been suggested. (That is, in fact, the topic of the first McInnes paper cited above.) Big project but not impossible. The disc would not need to cover the whole Earth, but just enough to cool key areas possibly reflecting the light to provide longer hours of daylight in the North of Canada or Russia in winter. No, you need to reflect the sunlight away from Earth entirely to have any impact on global warming. (And again, the system is constrained tightly enough that you actually don't have much room to fiddle with where the light goes.) -- MOST launched 30 June; first light, 29 July; 5arcsec | Henry Spencer pointing, 10 Sept; first science, early Oct; all well. | |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Prevention of global warming or Venus terraforming
"Stephen" wrote in message
om... This maybe a rather stupid idea but would it be possible to place a very large sunshade between Venus and the Sun. .. . . If this idea is feasible the same technique could be used to prevent Earth suffering from global warming. The disc would not need to cover the whole Earth, but just enough to cool key areas possibly reflecting the light to provide longer hours of daylight in the North of Canada or Russia in winter. It would probably be easier to use millions of helium balloons to reflect sunlight away from Earth. That way, you don't have to mess with rockets. |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
GUTH Venus is way too hot for even Bad Astronomy | Jon G | Policy | 29 | January 2nd 07 03:25 AM |
Recent Warming of Arctic May Affect Worldwide Climate | Ron Baalke | Science | 0 | October 24th 03 12:26 AM |
Marine Picks First Public Mars Global Surveyor Image | Ron Baalke | Science | 0 | September 12th 03 07:09 PM |
Global Warming on Mars | TangoMan | Technology | 0 | August 28th 03 06:48 PM |
Mars Global Surveyor Images - August 14-20, 2003 | Ron Baalke | Science | 0 | August 20th 03 04:45 PM |