KEYWORDS: asteroid; asteroids; water
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Posted on 01/26/2014 7:31:00 PM PST by SunkenCiv
And it's actually (relatively) nearby.
This is poor, unfortunate Ceres. Discovered in 1801, it was at first called a planet, then soon classified as an asteroid, and recently as a dwarf planet, not quite qualifying for real planet status despite residing in the solar system's asteroid belt. But now it can feel special: the Herschel Telescope has, the for the first time, detected water on the lil' planet--probably a whole lot of it, too.
The telescope, using infrared vision, detected a signature of water vapor from Ceres. The researchers think when the 590-mile-wide Ceres moves closer to the sun, part of its icy surface (something never conclusively proven to exist before now) is being melted, and that Herschel picked it up. How much ice, then, is in the surface? To put it in context: if it was melted, it would be more fresh water than is available on all of Earth.
Serendipitously, NASA already has a space probe, Dawn, in the area, and it'll be heading to Ceres next for a closer look at the surface in spring of 2015.
(Excerpt) Read more at popsci.com ...
;’)
As long as no one was in a rush, and such a large quantity of water were available, I’d start with Venus, which is very nearly the same diameter and mass as the Earth.
How do you neutralize the sulfuric acid?
Venus does have the advantage of having enough atmosphere if we can make it non-toxic. But we need a way of trapping the sulfuric acid. Maybe a designer bacteria, that can survive the high temps and the acid?
Perhaps so, after dilution.
This is interesting:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulfuric_acid#Sulfur-iodine_cycle
Maybe a combined approach of bombarding Venus with calcium rich asteroids and acid reducing bacteria.
Another possibility would be if we could find alkaline deposits on Venus and get those into the air.
90% of the surface of Venus is basalt. I see mention of alkali basalt, but don't know what the PH normally is or what it's likely to be on Venus. However I see basalt tends to weather quickly, so water might just do the trick.
Water could disolve compounds in the basalt and if those compounds are alkaline enough, they could neutralize the acid. Once the acid is neutralized, we could introduce plant forms that could withstand the heat and trap the carbon while releasing oxygen into the air.
Supposedly Venus's atmosphere is 90 times more dense than ours. I wonder what the introduction of that much water would have on it's atmosphere.
Good point, I missed that.
...did Hillary turn into a giant scrotum?
a lot of water on Ceres?
Is it not a rock? “Ender’s Game” and “Enders Shadow” were wrong??
Good news! Where there is water...there can be beer. Now all we have to do is find a Planet of Barley and a Planet of Hops and we’re all set.
Land on it, literally dig in, use it to create an orbital habitat.
What do you do with the sulfur after it is out of the atmosphere?
From Infoplease.com
Worlds largest collection of fart rocks. Or...
Elemental sulfur is used in black gunpowder, matches, and fireworks; in the vulcanization of rubber; as a fungicide, insecticide, and fumigant; in the manufacture of phosphate fertilizers; and in the treatment of certain skin diseases. The principal use of sulfur, however, is in the preparation of its compounds. The most important sulfur compound is sulfuric acid. Other important compounds include sulfur dioxide, used as a bleaching agent, disinfectant, and refrigerant; sodium bisulfite, used in paper manufacture; carbon disulfide, an important organic solvent; hydrogen sulfide, sulfur trioxide, and thionyl chloride, used as reagents in chemistry; Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate), used as a laxative, bath additive, exfoliant, and magnesium supplement in plant nutrition; the numerous other sulfate compounds; and sulfa drugs.
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