TWIN PLANETS – OR SO WE ONCE HOPED..!

Growing up in the Britain of the late 1950’s – and much influenced by the very well-produced “Eagle” boys magazine (not a comic..!) – like countless other school-boys, I was deeply fascinated by the possibility of life on other planets and, at that time, by far the most eligible candidate for extra-terrestrial life was NOT Mars but VENUS..!!!   Not only is Venus our closest planet, it is also very similar in size and density (Mars is quite puny in comparison) and the fact that it is permanently cloaked by thick clouds made it seem even more mysterious.

At the time it was widely speculated – even by some leading scientists – that Venus could be a densely-forested “tropical paradise”, perhaps similar to Earth during the Carboniferous era.   Many alleged UFO contact accounts and books from the 1950’s speak of meetings with “Venusians”.  In a sequel to his best-selling “Flying Saucers Have Landed” (1953), author George Adamski claimed to have been taken aboard a “Venusian” mother ship.  In several such books written in the 1950’s Venusians tended to be the default UFO-nauts.  I don’t recall Martian UFO-nauts ever being mentioned.

Sadly, all these exciting speculations were dashed in the early 1960’s when the first fly-by probes indicated that Venus was not a tropical paradise but was hotter than hell and probably even hotter than our Sun-hugging innermost planet of Mercury..!  And the atmospheric pressure at the surface was a bone-crushing 100x that of Earth..!  After this was confirmed by a number of later probes (mostly Soviet), including a lander which managed to take a few photos before succumbing to the enormous heat and pressure, Venus was quickly given up as a possible harbour of life.  The focus for possible extraterrestrial life quickly shifted to Mars and has remained there ever since.  None of the space-faring nations – or commercial space ventures – are interested in Venus these days, and hardly any space probes are ever sent there.

For the purposes of this speculation, lets assume that Venus is just as it was once widely believed to be – a lush tropical planet. 

Lets further assume that, after initial exploratory missions, Elon Musk III decides to establish a Venusian colony and send several thousand colonists there.  How would these colonists be housed?   Would they live in individual houses, as we tend to do on Earth..?  Most unlikely if, as might be expected of a tropical planet, Venus is teeming with climatological threats – torrential downpours, floods, hurricanes, twisters, etc.   Not only that but also some very dangerous creatures – spiders, snakes, dinosaurs, etc., and maybe even hostile humanoids.

The logical thing to do – not just for security but also to conserve resources – would be for the colonists to live in a SINGLE ENCLOSED STRUCTURE – an Oasis-City in effect.   And the most practical design for any enclosed city – whether it be on Venus or Mars, or indeed on Earth – would be a PYRAMID..!

DEFENSIBILITY

If we are to take seriously the possibility of future threats to our civilisation, we need to build defensibility into our future cities.   Obviously we will be unable to defend against (for example) a full-scale Russian invasion, but there is the increasingly likely possibility of a widespread breakdown of law and order such as what is happening now in parts of France and which will surely get worse.  In many unstable parts of the world – notably South Africa – those who can afford to do so are moving into gate-controlled “security estates”.   Oasis-City modules will have a dual layer of security control – one for the outer sanctuary (gardens) and another for the inner sanctuary (the building).   They may thus be considered the ultimate form of security estate, although that will not be the intention but simply a happy bonus.   

If we can agree that enclosed 3-D cities would be the safest form of habitat – and most eco-friendly – on another planet, what is stopping us building them here on Earth..?