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by XorNot5 hours ago |
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upvoteby ultratalk4 hours ago|
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If I remember correctly, the habitable-ish cloud layers have super-fast winds that circle the planet once every 4 days or so. [0]

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmospheric_super-rotation

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upvoteby JumpCrisscross4 hours ago|
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> But an ecosystem where the planet spends most of the year in darkness or dim light?

If you're floating you don't have to track the ground.

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upvoteby swiftcoder4 hours ago|
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Does the atmosphere itself track the ground? I'd expect the slow rotation to drive persistent winds, potentially keeping weather systems somewhat tidal-locked as well
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upvoteby XorNot4 hours ago|
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True but you basically lose the benefits of being on a planet. The point at which you're just floating in atmosphere I would argue you might as well be in orbit for all the resupply complexities, but few of the benefits - I.e. an orbital structure without significant atmosphere around it means high Isp low thrust engines like ion drives are practical to come and go from it and a lot of the energy is free from solar.
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upvoteby JumpCrisscross4 hours ago|
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> you might as well be in orbit for all the resupply complexities

The difference is in air pressure and gravity.

Gravity means comfort for astronauts. It also makes, I suspect, science and industry a bit easier.

I don’t know what air pressure means. Spacewalks probably get easier. But now your structures have to deal with aerodynamic forces, which is annoying. Making up for that, you’re suspended in a soup of precursors and reagents—that opens up ISRU possibilities. And you should be getting less radiation in atmosphere.

On the whole, if you’re doing planetary science, I think being in the atmosphere is hard to beat. If you’re doing any industry, being near raw materials beats shipping anything unprocessed out of a gravity well. So if you’re staying for a while, you dip in. If, on the other hand, you’re just visiting for a few days, yeah, take a lander and then get back out again.

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upvoteby swiftcoder4 hours ago|
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There are other advantages versus orbital habitats, not least that your station doesn't have to be a pressure vessel - equal pressure within and without makes big structures a lot simpler.
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upvoteby AnimalMuppet33 minutes ago|
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All right, but if outside is one atmosphere of sulfur dioxide, you still don't want any air leaks.
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upvoteby idlewords1 hours ago|
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The atmosphere has a perfectly reasonable 110 hour day/night cycle.
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upvoteby thaumasiotes3 hours ago|
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> But an ecosystem where the planet spends most of the year in darkness or dim light?

How would that work? Averaged over the planet, you get half the year in darkness and half the year in light. There's no other option.

We have that same ecosystem on Earth.

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