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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statite

http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Pars … ...5183225

Multipurposness is good sometimes, but about these energy supply or deflection mirrors in space, do you realise how big and how FLIMSY should they be. To illuminate very distant points with near earth equivalent o the light flux, say Titan, you`ll need statite mirror or soleta with diameter of thousands of km... millions in the Oort cloud. The major group of scientists (Dyson, Forward, Birch...) engaged in concerning this matter math games, envision use of "solar sail matterial" - nanometers thick and grams per acre weighting. Like in the construction of the old earth oceanic wind ships it is not necesarry the sails to be as thick as the hull...

It is possible, but almost certainly shall appear to be uneconomical and non-necesarry. I`ll post a more detailed eventual picture in separate topic about these cold extremes.

BTW, there are maths supported ideas that far out there towards and in the Oort cloud and even KB, could be found planets bigger than Pluto or even Moon, mars or Earth size...

Yes. I do not agree with the semantics juggling of mbastion, but it is scientifically mandatory every objective to be checked, the same way as every argument pro terraforming feasibility.

Generally, on the topic of the thread about 'minimum terraformation': the minimums of habitability depend entirelly on the parameters of endurance of human body in different environments. They practically are far narrow over the overall field between the extremes -- temperature, pressure, gravity, atmosphere content... Partial terraforming could mean not direct livability of the environment but just permiting lighter body protection: masks, etc.

mbastion,

The resistence is futile!
Give up!
Accept the notion of "terraforming" as understood by all the others in this forum and abroad.
The semantics belong to the realm of the internal subjective human cosmos, which also possesses deep imanent infinities, the same way the outer objective one.
Don`t try to set artificial limits on discourse, which leads you in unending regress of the word-flood.
Every word means what the people agree to put in it.
The language is conventional.
Like mathematics it doesn`t have proof for existence out of its own realm.

If you don`t agree this as usual, post a vote and you`ll see the results.

On Ceres -- Let`s built a "Global Sky Ocean"!!!

Puting asside the topic of photo-exospheric athmosphere deterioration, in 2.4% g environment the hight of necesarry 1bar air column has to be about 50 times the earth`s. That means average 400 kilometers of air overground Ceres? Comparable with the planet`s radius. In such hights the gravity will be around 4 times lower and the dissipation will be further encouraged. Add the fast rotational period - the equatorial air bulge and other factors... and presurized Ceres surface will turn the planetoid in kinda comet, without powerfull artificial magnitosphere to hold the atmosphere molecules from escaping. Such tremendous volume of air necesarry for 1 bar brethable air mixture (comparable with the earth`s atmosphere mass) could be avoided with comperativelly simple technique, already proposed for domed 1 bar environments on bodies with little gravity:

For example, it is shown that on Moon, a presurized dome has to have quite big structural strength in order not to burst -- the engeneering decision -- make the dome from thin and weak sheet of sinthetic matter and burry it in several dozen of metters of regolith which weight will compensate the internal air presure...
Here you have ballancing counter-presure AND radiation protection.

The same work could be done by water layer. Liquid water is about thousand times denser than air in the same temperature span so moderate depth of water could compensate realy huge air column. Thin water layers are transperant.

If the body is so small and low gravity as Ceres, Vesta, others..., but round and big enough to be usefull in other sence than simple dismantling it for raw materials... ( in the "planemo" taxonomy of Gibor Basri -- residing between the lowest part of the mass spectrum of the planetary bodies and somewhere the earth`s moon size), than simply put the major part of the hydrosphere above the athmosphere:

1. Gradually cover the whole planetoid with TWO one-in-another "world tents"/"baloons"/"bags" of transperant plastic
2. Pump them incrementally to reach their full designed size -- nowhere touching the firm ground - say, average ten km above ground.
3.Paralelly introduce water between the two sheets of the 'dome' during the corresponding increase of the beneath air presure.
4.Finally you have 1 bar (under few % of g`s) brethable athmosphere encapsulated/pushed down in packaged "sky ocean" of liquid water.

Pay one constructional effort and receive:
-statical forces` balanced presure dome;
-the best radiation shielding;
-hydro-ecosystem environment-a whole completelly functional ocean floating above the air layer;
-water reservoir and distributor;
-termal/greenhouse shield/insulator
-managable ocean-currant global termoregulator...
-air-leakage preventor... ...

Under the ocean on "terra firma" grow giantic trees, biuld huge dwelling complexes, whatever...

The access to and from space could be easily done by Beabtalks puncturing the ocean. The synchronous oprbit is quite low because of lesser gravity and fast spinning of the dwarf-planets -- with common materials, say, kevlar, could be biult a whole ring encircling the globe at that orbit with looong tethers reaching far out (to degree dependant entirely of the tether tensile strehgnt) to be used as momentum transfer utility for interplanetary transit maneuvres, cathapulting and receaving cargo without fuel expenditure even if moving far faster than the orbital velocity of the minor planet. The resources of Ceres, Vesta or other such body here or in anoither planetary system could be used equally successfull under air presure too. There is more than enough vacuum on "walk/fly" distance at the synchronous ring facility...

It`s obvious that we can not define in absolute sence any terms here. In that line of epistemological taxonomy it`s very easy to be proved, based on your oun logic, that indeed much more terms have to be coined to describe and settle the related items. NO planet could be "terraformed" in your strict sence. They all shall differ greatly from Earth. The Earth itself offers quite diverse environments in space and time. If we replicate the conditions of Mount Everest in midnigh somewhere -- is it terraforming? Or the conditions of the deep ocean trenches? The climates existed hundred of millions of years ago? Sahara worst points? Winter Antarctica?

"terraforming" ALREADY means generaly -- meliorating an environment in parameters livable/habitable by humans -- no mater what environment it is -- naked planetary surface, asteroid/cometary nuklei cavity, the face of supra-planetary shell, entirelly from-scratch biult in open space rotating tube structure...

It is entirelly out of the "marketing" abilities of a single person to replace the slang meaning of a term nested long ago in the social consciousness, no matter how tempting is this effort.

Remember that even the first mentioner of "terraforming" (Olaf Stapledon?) expanded the term use also to improving parts of the earth`s surface.

I agree that for practical reasons we should accept the term "terraforming" as just a technical ONE WORD sleng -- a common denominator for infinite variety of designs and techs and results -- for "making habitable" of any environment.

Otherwise we`ll drown in a sea of more and more "accurate" terms...

thanks! The topographical moon animation is super. Best for visualisation of eventual water bodies distribution: shallow seas and low mountains on Near side -- deeeeep ocean and high elevations on the Far side...

Do topographical colour-coded map of Mercury exists?

http://www.paulbirch.net/TerraformingMarsQuickly.zip

Look at this. There is even financial analisis and estimation, confirming the strong logico-economical notion over necessity to terraform Mars in decades...Interesting and comprehencive stuff about -- soletas, annular mirrors, light filtering and refocusing the beam towards the planet`s rim, photosynthetical optimisation... the necesity for regolith evaporation for engassing the early athmosphere... (BTW, applicable on earth`s Moon, too, I think).

Here you can find an article also "Terraforming Venus Quickly"; "How to spin a planet?"; "How to move a planet?", and my favourite and most informing, widening the realm of terraformable worlds almost to infinity:

"SUPRAMUNDANE PLANETS" !!!

Please -- look at it, and also my post "Supramundane habitats+", and comment my generalisation scheme.

...3.If combination of Saturn-Sol L1 positioned soleta concentrating (filtered?) sun light on annular (hyperboloid?) mirror arround Titan is used, than the walls of the rotating reflective "cowl" could be provided with elecromagnetic effect redirecting constantly the lost hydrogen back in the atmosphere, together with absence of UV and higher radiation -- meaning lower exosphere temperature, i.e. minimising overal gas velocities. The constant illumination and super-green house gasses and other atmosphere components could allow, far lesser amount of Watts on sq.m. necesarry.

Such techniques together with foam/cell isolation of the icy crust from the warmed ecology above, could allow very wide range of possible arcology designes -- from the mentioned minus tens of degrees centigrade sub-arctic climate, to tropical. The isolation "blanket" indeed will provide and regulate the world topology and relief, different quantities of H2O could be released over or trapped under it. Artificial mountains biuld, through filling empty high structures which freeze thereafter, or deep oceans by melting and pumping the covered ice of the base -- a byproduct of the overal planetary termal ballance and airconditioning -- like vertical and plumbed ocean currants termoduct mechanism...

RobertDyck in the thread for terraforming the jovian moons and other gas giant icy satelites, pointed out very correct that there is a way to keep the depths of the terrafomed icy body under the water freeze point the same way the Earth surface -- the opposite way is isolated from it`s hot mantle.
Using fibre or foamed matterials between the terraformed warmed up layer and the firm ice basis we could use the entire surface, to modify easier the crust and relief...

But, back on earth: The ice is quite good biulding material. There were plans immediatelly after the WWII huge ice aircraft cariers to be constructed, around big nucleary powered fridges. There are projects in the earth pollar regions islands of permafrost to be made, isolated from the summer heat by sacks of sand and layers of soil... There are occasional brake ups from the antarctic ice sheet many kilometers wide -- bigger than the territory of the smallest nations. Already, ,there are attempts and projects huge icebergs to be packaged in order millions of tones fresh water to be shipped to the thirsty tropics. Combined:

Take or make iceberg (say from reinforced with organic fibres "icecrete"), say several dozens of km. wide (hundreds of sq.km.); shift it in the middle of the ocean towards tropics; make it with very fractal and slopy coastline. Cover it`s all surfaces with foamy material, cover it with soil, raise plants, biult houses... Remove the little amount of heat which penetrated the isolation with solar powered refrigerators...

Is it possible.

I it is, there`s no reason why not to repeat such tech on global scale over the icy worlds or for trapping the CO2 under water ocean during some phases of the Venusian terraforming.

Regarding some very probable in long run meta-environmentalist notions (like the "reds" ideology in K.S.R. martian trilogy) may be moving and dismantling of any noticeable body in the solar system will be prohibited. I that respect even the terraformning itself could not be allowed, but if not enough spiritual spark ever ignites towards protecting the baren rocky-icy worlds, than we could see attempts to be terraformed the extremal locations within the System -- bodies way beyond the Goldilock zone. In Groups after google-search I found this about the Mercury terraforming. Notice: no parasols initially, partial territorially habitable zone AND the autor David Semloh states that this is the easiest, cheapest, fastest planet to be terraformed(B). In his wrightings I didn`t saw a method for preventing the athmosphere dissipation or the hydrogen spill after the first wished photodissociation phase, but with magnethodinamical means -- modified mag-sails both the exosphere could be cooled down significantly, the escaping particles returned constantly back and the steady massive flow of the sollar wind harvested/scooped for hydrogen resupply. Here you are some of his posts in the mentioned ancient message thread:
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Type "David semloh Mercury" on Google -- Groups
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For me it seems quite serious and considered. The promissed couple of millions of sq.km. habitable area at the planet`s poles are well enough (two) big pocket-civilizations to develop. In long run their representatives could keep the terraforming untill the whole planet is climatologically moderated, with parasol off course -- there arround L1 point of the Mercury-Sun system, could be positioned anything in industrial sence, even quite more accessible, that would otherwise provide the barren Mercury. A planet with athmosphere could be very succesfully mined for metals, too.