Why We Should Build Cloud Cities on Venus
In terms of human habitation, the big advantages of Venus' atmosphere are:<p>1.  It has essentially Earth-normal gravity.  Zero-G long-term is a death sentence for humans.  The long term effects of Martian gravity are unknown.  It seems safe to assume that Venus gravity is fine.<p>2.  It is protected from impact and radiation by an atmosphere in a way that Mars or asteroids never will be.<p>3.  It has an essentially limitless supply of carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur available to it.<p>4.  It is reasonably well-positioned for solar power.<p>5.  It is relatively temperate.<p>6.  Low pressure differential between inside a habitat and outside of one means that leaks are less severe and containment breaches are easier to react to.<p>But there is at least one huge disadvantage:<p>1.  Everything besides carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur needs to be imported, either from a fantastically hostile surface, or down through reentry into an atmosphere in a deep gravity well and rendezvousing with an aerostat.<p>That disadvantage is a pretty goddamn significant one for human habitation.<p>But it's not a disadvantage for long-term robot probes, and it's...  less... of a disadvantage for a minimal-population scientific base.