Database and Lore

Venus

“It’s often that Venus gets ignored in UWA politics. We are a small colony, but we get the job done. Many don’t even know that their best doctors come from us, but it’s up to us to treat others appropriately.” Former UWA Venetian Representative Karl Lenix. While several worlds belong to the UWA, some are surprised to learn that a colony on Venus does exist. Some often mute the history of its importance, but it has been recognized that the daunting hellish world still has some notable abilities. This, as a whole, contributes to the entire human population. History Venus is a world that is more like Earth than people will realize. Its mass is only slightly smaller than Earth being around 400 kilometers less in radius. It formed much like the other planets of the Sol system but was much closer to the sun. The world has no moons and is recognized to spin backward due to flipped poles. It takes 116 days to have one Venetian day. It takes 225 Earth days for Venus to properly orbit the sun. Its heavy iron core ensures that it’s around 90% of Earth’s gravity. During much of Venus’s recent history, it has been marked as a place of wonder. Much like Mars, Venus had some exciting features, but one that was quickly shunned by the harsh environment. Its atmosphere consists of heavy amounts of CO2. This, in conjunction with the close proximity of the star, produces an enormous amount of heat. As a result, the atmosphere acts as a massive blanket. As a result, the surface pressures are incredibly high. It’s believed that nothing on Earth could survive on such a planet. However, there is much speculation that Venus might have been a habitable world over a billion years ago. The high concentrations of CO2 are indicative of the prospect of former oxygen and even liquid water that might have existed. When super-heated, this can transform a planet to the large concentration of CO2 that currently exists. Speculation shows that Venus was originally much cooler when the star was younger. The habitable zone would have placed Earth in a cooler environment and had Venus stable for life to develop. The thick atmosphere would have provided suitable protection from the radiation. Humanity had launched numerous probes to the planet to study this further. The vacant dirt-like scenery can be seen before the objects are eroded and crushed on the surface. More efforts would have been made to colonize Venus even sooner if it weren't for this significant factor. As humanity struggled with the evacuation of Earth, Venus was quickly discarded as a potential colony candidate. Most of the reason simply fell down to the fact that there was no habitable land to settle on. Resource-wise, it was much easier to colonize Mars than Venus. However, there were some efforts by various societies that Venus may be a better candidate than expected. Mars might have had land, but Venus still offered a near same gravity. The atmosphere still provided protection against the harmful radiation that the star gave off. The most significant prospect was that Venus could actually be colonized. What was known as the Aeolia Program would propose that a series of cloud cities could be constructed. These floating platforms would be properly pressured at the height region of the atmosphere that was equal to Earth’s. Below the atmosphere was crush depth, but above it was an area that was just right for human standards to live on. The cloud cities could also be easily maintained as any ruptures wouldn’t result in the loss of the structure. The floating structures could be made operational above 50 kilometers from the surface. In the suitable regions of the planet, the cities would actually have comfortable temperatures. It was even theorized that with breathable oxygen and shielding from the acid rain, people could easily survive on Venus. Even with the evacuation of Earth, any projects on Venus were canceled until further notice. The Aeolia Program had been shelved for almost a hundred years, but it would remain as a possible choice. Venus wasn’t going anywhere, and its closer proximity to Earth than Mars still kept it as a viable option. Regardless, the sheer number of people who needed to be moved had kept the cloud city concept ignored. However, the Aeolia Program started to make some headway in the 2200s when people were being diagnosed with Gangler Syndrome. The condition was mostly caused by the lower gravity living on Mars and Luna. While many of these people could be moved back to Earth to be treated, the fear of the toxic Orange Muck might have made things worse for this small percentage of people. It would be a collection of former Russian, Japanese, and Cuban interests that placed a new proposal for treating it. The Aeolia Program could be reinitialized. A series of cloud cities could be constructed on Venus. There the people could be adequately treated. Venus had a near Earth-like gravity. The Russians further pressed the idea that the Aeolia Program could encourage technological interests in being able to colonize other worlds, including gas giants. Unfortunately, the program would be shelved again. It wouldn’t be until the Gabatrix Experiment that Venus would be under a small spotlight. Technically, the method of ease in space travel actually helped the prospect of colonizing Venus. Compared to sixty years ago, it required significantly fewer resources in bringing the construction materials to the planet. Once again, the Aeolia Program would be brought forth. This time it would have further modifications. The Venetian cities would be made part of the ever- growing UHN and UWA assets. The cloud cities could serve as UHN bases of emergency operation in case Mars and Titan were ever taken out. At the same time, it could be used to treat individuals with Gangler Syndrome and be used in medical research. Finally, the resources were put together, and the first series of construction began in 2299. It was initially planned to have four cloud bases built, but it was expanded to five. The largest of the cities would be Vega, with staff and a population of 15,000. Much to the surprise of many, construction was relatively easy and resulted in no reported incidents. Vega would be completed in 2309 as the other cities would take time to create. As Vega was made operational, many claimed that Venus had become the hidden paradise of Sol. Many of the people who live there enjoy comfortable lives even with Cebravis and other colonized worlds. At the same time, the growing population requested to be made a part of the UWA. Under the rules of the UWA, Venus would become a member in 2315. Other cities such as Venera would help serve as a makeshift tourist and medical facilities. Advanced research is conducted on the other floating platforms. Each of the cities even has basic self-reliance where they can use the CO2 to create oxygen and feed themselves. Despite all of the achievements, Venus is still a very small colony. More people prefer to live in the more easily livable worlds such as Cebravis, Oshun, and Aphadus. Conditions on Venus prevent expansion from being made unless there are concentrated efforts to do so. Even Vega would see the rise of a second platform to house the additional families and the tiny amounts of Venetian tourism that come there. As of 2349, many of the best doctors, including corpsmen from the UHN are taught and trained on the planet. Other Possibilities Venus and Mars have also been considering another project that was mentioned in the later modifications of the Aeolia Program. What is known as the “Twin Risers Project” is a concept that Venus could be used to help create a suitable atmosphere for Mars. Using the cloud cities as a base, a series of gate arrays could be built on the cloud layers. On Mars, the wormholes could be used to move the CO2 from one planet to another. The ever-increasing amounts of CO2 on Mars could make things more habitable for it while at the same time decreasing the high concentrations of the runaway greenhouse effect on Venus. In theory, it’s a promising idea, but there are issues with the concept. For one, the gate arrays require a massive amount of power to have it run for extended periods. Most folded space apertures are short. The movement of gases in such planetary scales would require more energy to keep in the entire operation. At the moment, the Twin Risers Project is one that is only on hold due to the Gabatrix Experiment’s legacy, but one that isn’t ignored either. For now, it’s simply easier to live on the other colony worlds rather than commit to a widescale terraforming project for Venus and Mars.