Which planet/body would you explore?

[Airhog]

If you were given the chance to explore one planet or moon in our solar system, which would you choose

I think many people would choose mars, or europa, due to the chance of discovering life. And that would be quite fantastic I think.

I would most like to explore a gas giant like jupiter, and my second choice would be venus.

[cthomer5000]

ill chose body: Salma Hayek

[JonInMiddleGA]

cthomer beat me to the obvious answer, so I'll just skip it.

Well, I had some different bodies in mind, but same general idea.

[Izulde]

Pluto's not a planet anymore.

[Groundhog]

Definately Jupiter. No chance of finding anything resembling life as we know it, but it would be awesome sight.

When I was young I read a short story by Arthur C. Clarke about a cybernetic guy's journey to Jupiter and ever since then it's been the planet I've found most interesting.

[sabotai]

Could one of you tell me what is so fascinating about exploring a bunch of clouds? :)

[Airhog]

Pluto's not a planet anymore.


A neither are the moons of jupiter, which is why I said planet/body

[Fonzie]

I chose Europa for the prospect of discovering life, but also because I'd get a big ol' eyeful of Jupiter while I was at it.

[sabotai]

I choose to go see what Sedna looks like.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/90377_Sedna

[wade moore]

cthomer beat me to the obvious answer, so I'll just skip it.

Well, I had some different bodies in mind, but same general idea.

ct stole my exact choice.

[Bad-example]

I chose Mars. I figure it is the most likely to be colonized by humans. I might as well go stake out a nice homestead for my family. Also, I always wanted to visit Mars University.

[Eaglesfan27]

ct stole my exact choice.


Mine too - along with Alyssa Milano back in her prime (heck if something this improbable could happen, I could time travel as well.)

[M GO BLUE!!!]

I'm just wondering who is seeking to spend time in Uranus.

(sorry) :D

[Brillig]

OGLE-05-390L b

[Danny]

Scarlett Johannson

[Vegas Vic]

my second choice would be venus.

Venus is very problematic, due to the 900 degree F. surface temperature. The Soviet Union landed several of their massive five ton Venera probes in the 70's and 80's, but they only transmitted data for a few minutes before failing. This is the best picture that was able to be captured from the surface of Venus, taken by Venera 13 in 1983. The probes were able to confirm that Venus' surface is composed primarily of basalt.

http://img314.imageshack.us/img314/4508/venera13landerhy2.gif

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/5629/venusvenera13rightsa2.jpg

[Lorena]

Without a doubt, Jupiter. Just imagine, it's so humungous, that all our planets combined can fit in it, times 2. That and I'd be curious to see the red spot... the thing is so huge it's about the size of the earth!

[sabotai]

Without a doubt, Jupiter. Just imagine, it's so humungous, that all our planets combined can fit in it, times 2. That and I'd be curious to see the red spot... the thing is so huge it's about the size of the earth!

The Great Red Spot on Jupiter is actually twice the size of Earth. Well, that's not really true either. The diameter of the storm is twice the diameter of Earth. No one knows how far down that storm goes, so it's probably a LOT bigger than just 2 Earths.

[SackAttack]

Without a doubt, Jupiter. Just imagine, it's so humungous, that all our planets combined can fit in it, times 2.

The more I think about that, the more I come to the inescapable conclusion that that right there is recursive logic.

If all the planets in the solar system could twice fit inside of Jupiter, wouldn't Jupiter itself be of infinite mass, since Jupiter would be counted among the planets fitting inside itself? :D

[sterlingice]

Pluto's not a planet anymore.

You have chosen the way of pain! Begone with you and your silly revisionist planet theories.

SI

[sterlingice]

I think Io and the volcanoes would be cool. Or Saturn, if you could find a "solid" area to look up and see the rings.

SI

[albionmoonlight]

I think Io and the volcanoes would be cool. Or Saturn, if you could find a "solid" area to look up and see the rings.

SI

You took my top two. I think, though, that I would go with Io. The chance to see the most geologically active world known to man is too much to pass up.

[Anthony]

which body would i like to explore? hmmmmm...toughy.

i say Jessica Alba.

[cuervo72]

Venus is very problematic, due to the 900 degree F. surface temperature. The Soviet Union landed several of their massive five ton Venera probes in the 70's and 80's, but they only transmitted data for a few minutes before failing. This is the best picture that was able to be captured from the surface of Venus, taken by Venera 13 in 1983. The probes were able to confirm that Venus' surface is composed primarily of basalt.

Wow, I never knew they had done this. Cool.

[MJ4H]

How was I the first one to select Uranus for the obvious joke.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

For those that are interested, great space exploration that is active right now.........

Cassini (Saturn) website:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/main/index.html

Mars Rover website:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mer/index.html

[st.cronin]

I am in favor of aggresive colonization of the asteroid belt. I'm dead serious.

[rkmsuf]

I am in favor of aggresive colonization of the asteroid belt. I'm dead serious.

What, not Planet of the Amazon Bradys?

[MikeVic]

So if we get to Venus again, there will be a bunch of CCCP probes there? Or would they have melted by now.

[Vegas Vic]

So if we get to Venus again, there will be a bunch of CCCP probes there? Or would they have melted by now.

NASA has never really expressed any interest in landing a probe on Venus, presumably for the risk vs. reward of spending billions of dollars to get maybe 5 or 10 minutes of data. Instead, NASA has focused their limited Venus resources on orbital mapping probes like the Magellan.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

So if we get to Venus again, there will be a bunch of CCCP probes there? Or would they have melted by now.

Better yet, did Russia realize that they'd be encountering an environment that hot when they sent the probe there? I'd be interested to see a website that discusses these probes.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

I can evidently answer my own question. Great website about Venus including more pictures from the Russian probes that landed on the surface, some transmitting as long as 50 minutes.

http://www.mentallandscape.com/Venus.htm

[Surtt]

Earth,

I have only seen a small part of it.

[Vegas Vic]

Here is a 1983 shot of Venus from Venera 13, enhanced by more modern digital clarity techniques. It is black & white, but if you want to put yourself on the surface of Venus, imagine an orange sky, a surface temperature of about 800 to 900 degrees F., and a surface composed primarily of basalt (hardened lava from volcanic eruptions). If you want to get a feel for that type of temperature, stick your head inside of your oven the next time you bake a pizza, and multiply that temperature x 2. The crescent shaped object that you see in front of the lander is the lens cap, which melted shortly after the landing.

Venus is not a place that you would want to spend your vacation time on.

http://img86.imageshack.us/img86/1003/venera13surfacevb6.jpg

[14ers]

I think in some agreement way back when; The USA was assigned Mars and Russia was assigned Venus to explore.


MY choice has to be the alien face on Mars.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I'm still thinking about it, but my wife has chosen J.P. Losman.

[sterlingice]

Wow, I never knew they had done this. Cool.

Me neither- this was cool to read about.

SI

[sterlingice]

If you want to get a feel for that type of temperature, stick your head inside of your oven the next time you bake a pizza, and multiply that temperature x 2.

Ok, I did chuckle at this line.

SI

[Young Drachma]

This thread had me up the other night reading all sorts of sites about human colonisation of random places in our galaxy. It was interesting..