For the first generation Ganymede was an adventure, for the next a challenge, and for the third, a grind. 2 / (Raise your TR 1 step for each Jovian tag you have, including this.) Ganymede can support plants and animals from a wet temperate climate. This slow rotation was still enough to churn Ganymede’s inner ocean, exerting a torque on the ice sheets above. [citation needed] There is no accessible surface on which to land, and the light hydrogen atmosphere would not provide good buoyancy for some kind of aerial habitat as has been proposed for Venus. This will ensure a more stable atmosphere. To see how large a celestial body will look like, draw a circle of X mm on a sheet of paper and look at it from a distance of 1 m. Assuming it will have similar types of terrain Earth will have, Europa can support a Population Limit of 31.6 million people. However, the little UV radiation that reaches the surface can dissociate water molecules. 0 Ganymede receives about 0.08 Sv of radiation per day. Ganymede is thought to be made primarily of water-ice and there is even thought to be a subterranean sea beneath its crust between the mantle and the core. In the light gravity–one-seventh of Earth’s–carving out immense blocks of ice was easy. That made the week symmetric, and scientists love symmetry. JavaScript seems to be disabled in your browser. Farmer in the Sky celebrates 19th century American frontier life and homesteading by imagining much the same situations on Ganymede. Greenhouse Gases are needed. Immigration Shuttles. The bait was the asteroids–big tumbling lodes of metal and rock, rich in heavy elements. But that demands terraforming, whereby sentient life from Earth transforms the very nature of nonsentient worlds. The unending sleet of high-energy protons would fry him, ripping through the delicate cells and spreading red destruction. If the crawler drowned itself, the balloon would inflate and float the plant to the surface, to be fished out by a rescue team. This color and glow is due to the density of the urban area on the moon as it is the central hub of Rim society.. It is impossible to launch a satellite into a geosynchronous orbit, so there will be many satellites orbiting the moon. Be careful when placing cities on Ganymede's surface. The idea that finally won looked just as bizarre as the rest, but it had an ace up its sleeve. If it is too salty, we will create a Salt Ocean Planet, which cannot support much marine life. This means liquid water could be collected much more easily and safely on Enceladus than, for instance, on Europa (see above). Heinlein assumed, based on the best scientific knowledge of the times, that Ganymede has a rocky surface under an ice layer–which we now know it does, plus a deep ocean. To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers. Ringing the Sun with mirrors to create a circular "racetrack" for the laser pulse gives the medium far more material to lase, and at the appropriate time, one of the mirrors can be manipulated to allow the beam to exit. Continents. It is very unlikely that crops or other forms of vegetation could be grown on the surface due to lack of surface soil so most food would likely have to be provided through artificial means such as hydroponics. Most interplanetary ships will dock at Himalia, while cargo and passengers will be transshipped to and from Ganymede by smaller ships. They once spent days, back when slide rules were the apex of calculation speed, in working out the ballistics of an interplanetary trip (for The Rolling Stones), only to summarize their work in a few breezy paragraphs. The first step of terraforming Ganymede would have to be by increasing its surface temperature. Ganymede is very complex, with mountains, craters and fractures. [1][2], There have also been proposals to place robotic aerostats in the upper atmospheres of the Solar System's gas giant planets for exploration and possibly mining of helium-3, which could have a very high value per unit mass as a thermonuclear fuel. As the story begins, the station is about to be closed down, and the protagonist, seventeen year-old Matt Bohles, isn’t happy. d) Why even try? A century later it would be feasible, though still expensive.) Therefore, erase the dangers. Or start with two legs and wings and gain extra legs? Over half of Ganymede’s mass was water ice, with liberal dollops of frozen carbon dioxide, ammonia and methane, and minor traces of other frozen-out gases. Many lost that bet. This is a simulation of what one would expect to find on a terraformed Ganymede, using formulas from Math And Terraforming. Are the spices sumac, harissa and za’atar related in any way to capsicums/ chillies? It is possible that the continents will be small. By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy. Istoria Wikia is a FANDOM Lifestyle Community. It only takes a minute to sign up. Therefore, building an infrastructure is possible on the moon. The family considers returning to Earth, but the pioneer spirit prevails. Its radiation would deliver about 36 Sv per day to unshielded colonists on Io and about 5.40 Sv per day to unshielded colonists on Europa. The resulting atmosphere would be thick and would likely have an active hydrological cycle. The terraforming of Ganymede was substantially simpler than all other terraformings of moons, due to Ganymede's preexisting magnetic sphere, something the other moons in the Solar System lacked. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. Paradise Habitability Clouds and hazes will block visibility. The resulting Ganymede would still be a very cold palace to live and it would likely be an ocean world with ice at the poles and mostly ocean everywhere else with possibly a few small land masses.