Despite
all of its problems and faults, Earth is a lovely place. Especially if you
compare it with our neighboring planets. Our
favorite astrophysicist, Neil deGrasse Tyson, explains how long you would
survive on other planets in our solar system without a spacesuit (well, to be
honest, in most planets the spacesuit won’t help you at all). Sun How
long: Less than a second “Let’s
start with the sun; you would vaporize really, really fast. Not a good place to
visit although I’m told if you go at night… well, that’s an old astronomy
joke.” Mercury How
long: As long as you can hold your breath “First
planet out is Mercury. The side that faces the sun is very hot (up to
800 °F / 426 °C). There’s another side that does not face the sun
that’s really cold. So, if you straddle that zone it’d be like you rotated like
in a rotisserie chicken and you would have cold and warm sides of you. You
might be able to get the right temperature and survive as long as you could
hold your breath.” Venus How
long: Less than a second “Next
one is Venus. With a temperature of 900 °F / 482 °C, it’s hotter than
a pizza oven. Oh, by the way, Venus has about the same gravity as Earth so
you’d be very familiar walking around until you vaporize.” Earth How
long: About 80 years Mars How
long: As long as you can hold your breath “Mars
is very cold (-80 °F / -62 °C) but the air is very thin, so the intensity
of the cold would not be as biting as it might otherwise feel at that
temperature on Earth. If you put on some insulating clothing, you could walk
around holding your breath.” Jupiter How
long: Just forget it. “After
Mars you get to Jupiter which has no surface for you to land on. You will
descend forever into the gaseous atmosphere until you’re crushed by the
pressure of the planet’s layers.” Saturn,
Uranus And Neptune How
long: Just forget it. “The
same thing applies to all other gas giants: You’ll descend down to the center
and you’ll be crushed by the atmosphere as the atmospheric pressure continue to
grow. By the way, Saturn’s rings which look like a solid object are actually
particles – frozen water, possibly ammonia, rock etc.” Reference:
Scientific
Mindset
Post a Comment