🚀 go-pugleaf

tes@nomad.uucp (Thomas E. Smith [LORAL]) writes:
>
>Another plan I have (as long as I'm already off the deep end) is ignite
>Jupiter's atmosphere. It would be easier since it has all that hydrogen in it.
>Use this propultion to slow Jupiter way down, causing it to fall towards
>Venus. If done correctly this maneuver will sling shot Venus to an eccentric
>orbit out past Earth. As Jupiter swings around the sun, it will encounter Venus
>on its next orbit and swing Venus around into a nearly circular Earth-like
>orbit. If were lucky, the close encounters will strip much of Venus's
>atmosphere.

Someone has already pointed out the lack of oxidant.  However, something
like this has been used in an sf story.  See _A World Out of Time_ by
Larry Niven.  In it, there'a a requirement to move Earth away from the
sun.  So they construct a large tube floating in Uranus's atmosphere.
The tube has lasers around the edge that heats up the atmosphere within
it so that it shoots out the top.  This makes it a rocket to move Uranus
around.  With multiple passes, they manage to move Earth outward,
eventually putting it in orbit around Jupiter.

Of course, there's problems with the scenario, but not impossibilities.
Uranus was left in an eccentric orbit which would disrupt the other
planet's orbits probably in just a few 10's of thousands of years.

---
Dan Tilque    --     dant@techbook.com