My friends and I are building a world with a 50 mile high volcano on it. The mountain is the result of some bored god deciding to play a joke on everyone. Or, some other god got angry and decided to really, for realz this time, bury an unruly city. The legends aren't especially clear on how it got there or how it stays up. It's just there.

A 50 mile high mountain is approximately 10x the height of Mount Everest and 4x the height of Olympus Mons. 5 miles is approximately the edge of human endurance, even with supplemental oxygen. Make that volcano another 12 miles high and it will meet the internationally recognized definition of outer space. It is a shield volcano with starting with 2° slopes at the base but no steeper than 10° at the top.

While humans have been living at altitudes around 10,000 ft (3048m) for millennia, the first recorded ascent with equipment was 1492 in France. It would take another five hundred years for humanity to develop the techniques, technology and gumption to ascend the highest peak on Earth. Hillary and Norquay summited Everest in 1953.

It seems clear to me that no one is going to try to ascend this 50 mile volcano while the surrounding cultures are in a pre-science mindset. I also imagine various groups attempting to make ascents then turning back because they can't breath.

It took the development of rockets and airplanes on Earth to get to near vacuum atmosphere. People on this planet can walk there. Starting from a early 1920's technology level would their development of technology for living in a vacuum be accelerated by their ability to simply walk into one?

posted about 7 years ago

3y ago by Canina‭

Green‭

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