Saturn vs Mars

When speaking of Saturn, for example, we talk about something that has always been excluded because "too far" and still "too different". But the thing that we don't want to understand is that Mars and Venus or the moon, just to say, are not as similar to the Earth, and especially talking about the technological choices required, the difficulty of coming up with these engineer solutions is the same.

Saturn has a mass of about 5.6846 · 10^26 kg, against the "misery" of 5.9742 × 10 ^ 24 kg of Earth.

Jupiter has a mass of about 1.8986 · 10^27kg, against the "misery" of 5.9742 × 10 ^ 24 kg of Earth.

Now, strange as it may seem, we omit a moment Jupiter and ask ourselves: at what altitude of Saturn the gravity is approximately the same as the Earth?

The answer, given by the famous little formula of gravity is 58527 Km (I rounded up a number of things), and that is the average radius (equator-poles) of Saturn, or almost (about 99%). As a result, we are about the gaseous surface, if that can make sense.

What are the conditions of pressure and temperature at that altitude? If the data on Saturn that I find around are correct, we would find ourselves with a pressure from 2.5 Bar to 9.5Bar about and a temperature ranging from -30 to zero degrees Celsius. On this level there 's also a layer that goes from 3 to 6 atmospheres with temperatures from -40 to +15 Celsius.

What kind of environment would we find? More or less ice clouds of various types, ranging from water to ammonium hydrosulfate, suspended in an atmosphere of hydrogen, bit of helium, methane, and ammonia. All mixed with hurricanes 2/3 times more strong than the most powerful of Earth.

Now, what if we put in this layer of the atmosphere an object very hollow, which has a density corresponding to the density of that layer? It will happen that it "floats", it does a stroll in the upper atmosphere, without falling (assuming there is no breach in the hull).

Here we begin to have the more clear specifics on how to live in Saturn: it means building a kind of submarine capable of withstanding 2/3 atmospheres, density the average of the ice - which floats to those altitudes -.
Not so difficult in theory, some submarines have already similar specifications (ok, ok, obviously they can't be self-sufficient, etc).
A similar item would continue to float in the atmosphere until it is perfored, and since there is not a lot to hit that high, I would say it would remain safe for quite a bit before falling. To tell the truth we should investigate on the concept of "water ice in suspension", to avoid that there are icebergs many kilometers large, but if it is of particle clouds (as suggesting the speed of the winds), it is highly possible that the object can stay fairly safe.
Basically, in a place where the wind blows constantly to a few hundred km/hour should not be a problem procuring energy, water is there, sulfur and even nitrogen, and methane with its beautiful carbon.
I do not know if you could make a similar speech on Jupiter because the first installment at g = 1 seems to be in a hundred thousands of Km, that is in open space with no atmosphere. The share with 2-3 atmospheres has already a gravity of ~ 2 / 2.5 times that of Earth, then you should exclude to stay there for years.

Summarizing, if we take a slice of the atmosphere of Saturn, say a spherical surface, which has an acceleration of gravity Earth-like, that is g ~ 1 (it would be 9.81 meters per second per second, but I make a relationship to Earth's ), we meet:

1) Ice clouds, water. The famous water used to maintain life there ', and in quantities' beyond imagination. And then oxygen. No dependency for water.
2) Natural gas, and therefore carbon, nitrogen in different forms, sulfur and other halogens in "small" amount ', that' many of the bricks that are used to make plants grow. Cells can be grown in hydroponics.
3) An Earth-like gravity, which does not destroy the bones and the body of the settlers. The body is in familiar conditions.
4) A pressure ranging from 2-3 atmospheres up to 9 atmospheres. Things we manage already on the technological level, on submarines. In the event of a leak, the atmosphere tries to enter, they do not lose air, if anything, they embark gas.
5) Energy: JUST FUCK MY SHIT UP. There are winds of up to 950 km / hour.
6) Radiations: few, the planet is away from the sun and also we would already be immersed in the clouds .And it has a respectable magnetosphere.
7) Soil: none. It must be perpetually floating in the atmosphere, building boats of the weight / volume ratio appropriate.

If we make a comparison with Mars, we see that:

1) Water. Even if there are traces, you would have to dig for that. You might still have no agriculture. Import food and water from Earth at enormous cost.
2) Other materials needed to agriculture? Nobody. Only CO2, no nitrogen, ferrous soil, nothing that can be used for hydroponic cells. Ultimately leading to dependence on the earth.
3) Low atmospheric pressure means building expensive domes on the surface or dig caves. In the event of a leak, the precious air escapes.
4) Gravity is too low: the human body is decalcifies, playback and' impossible, the blood gets sick, need constant injections of hormones.
5) Radiations: fucking many. The atmosphere of Mars and 'too thin and reaches the ground every piece of crap. What's more ridiculous is that Mars has practically no useful magnetosphere.
6) Ground. Sort of. That stuff.

So, what's the real difference? The truth is that if we suspend a large object, as big as an ocean liner, in the atmosphere of Saturn, we probably would spend less and we would get a better environment than a colony in a martian cave. It is true that a ship with huge holes can sink, but it's also true that a building with huge leaks on Mars loses the air and the people die. Is it so different?

Also about the human impact, the pros and cons should be assessed. Sending into space for 8-9 months people (as to send them to Mars) or some years to Saturn results in osteoporosis, the dissolution of the muscles, the extreme weakening of the heart and other problems that should be resolved later on arrival.

It is true that on Mars then there would be a gravity much weaker than Earth so maybe the change would be gradual, and there are steroid hormones for decalcification, etc. On the other hand the advantage Saturn would have is to be able to plunge in the atmosphere with concentric orbits, gradually increasing the gravity. This lengthens the trip, ok, but brings people back to the "normal".

You can 'challenge the "ease" that I associate with reaching the upper atmosphere of Saturn, but once we reach it, the oxygen is there, the water is there, the nitrogen is there, the sulfur is there, the energy is there, you can live without becoming a monster by assuming tons of steroids, calcifics, and so on.