TPO40

The passage and the lecture are both about the possibility of maintaining humans on Venus. The author presents three arguments to mention that living on Venus is impossible for mankind. The lecturer, on the other hand, refutes all the mentioned ideas in the text and believes that making a station on Venus could be challenging but it is not impossible due to three reasons.

In the passage, the writer begins by stating that since the atmospheric pressure at Venus' surface is extremely higher than Earth's surface, every type of equipment would be crushed on Venus' surface. The professor, however, asserts that although the pressure at Venus is almost 90 times greater than Earth, it is possible to establish a station 50 km above Venus' surface, because the atmospheric pressure at such height is equal to Earth's surface pressure.

The author also claims that according to current knowledge of Venus' surface, there are no water reservoirs and oxygen there. The idea of transferring these critical resources from Earth to Venus is not logical and practical. Conversely, the speaker argues this viewpoint, mentioning that since there are several chemical compounds on Venus like carbon dioxide, sulfuric acid, and etc., the water and oxygen required by humans in the space station could be made through chemical processes on these compounds, and there is no need to import such resources from Earth.

Finally, the writer points out that the thick clouds filling Venus's atmosphere and a dense layer of carbon dioxide beneath it, approximately reflect 60 percent of sunlight. Consequently, less than 40 percent of sunlight reaches the surface, and this amount of light is not enough for providing the required electricity for a space station. In contrast, the lecturer states that the mentioned clouds are not too thick at 50 kilometers above Venus's surface where the station is or is located. So, a considerable amount of light can pass through the clouds. Furthermore, the solar cells can receive both reflected and passed sunlight and utilize them in producing electrical energy.