Properties of air cloud in space
So I'm trying to make an orbital city, kind of like the ISS, but on a much bigger scale. And against all logic and reason, I want there to be balconies. Like, where someone can just step outside, wearing normal street clothes, with nothing in between them and space, and not die. I've gone down the list of things that are completely implausible about this scenario, but my two main sticking points are the lack of air and pressure.
So here's my question: if you could just have a plant that could somehow survive in space, ejecting air out into space, at a constant rate, how big of a cloud of air would be needed for space to be survivable, both in terms of pressurization and breathability. Even if only for a few minutes. I know that any air released would eventually diffuse out into the vacuum, but if it was being produced fast enough, could the conditions be constantly survivable-ish?
Some info:
- the air is coming from a bunch of plant-type things that are growing all over the hull of the station and can survive space because reasons
- the station is geostationary and pretty big, haven't decided how big yet
- most of the living and working quarters are both inside and airtight, going outside every once in a while is really just something done for aesthetic purposes.
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2 answers
You need enough air that its own gravity holds it together. However that means in the center you'll have much more than atmospheric pressure; indeed I don't think your air will be gaseous in the center. In other words, what you have built is not an air cloud, but an air planet (except that it might not orbit a star "” but if you want to have a gaseous atmosphere, you better do orbit a star, or else the air will freeze).
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Reminds me a bit of a story where a guy makes a very small station with gravity and an atmosphere by having a very small sphere of nutronium sealed and magnetically suspended in the center. The gravity was strong enough to keep an atmosphere in and keep everyone from floating around.
In the end he self destructs the station by releasing the containment and collapsing the whole thing into the sphere.
So, you could keep the atmosphere in if you had a deep enough gravity well, however you hand wave it.
Maybe the plant makes gravity?
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