Strip 780 -- First Seen: 2011-08-31
Escape From Terra is updated with new pages every Monday through Friday.

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All of this should show up in June.

The Transcript For This Page

Panel 1
The lecture concludes. Two-shot of Babbette and Reggie, with Reggie ticking off the fifth finger of his right hand.
Reggie: And five, Mercury's Operation Parasol, will be the first planet-spanning airskin ever attempted.
Reggie: It is monumental in scale and is the greatest engineering project in human history.

Panel 2
In 'imaginary' panel showing Mercury enveloped in an airskin. Thirty-six cables arc over the planet from pole-to-pole, providing a stabilizing framework for a semi-transparent airskin which covers the planet everywhere except at the poles. At the equator, the airskin is about 100 kilometers above the ground. A cameo of Reggie in the corner narrates.
Reggie: Planetoids have been bagged, but this is an entire world. I want to see how they're doing it.
Reggie: Maybe we'll learn something that will help when it comes time to put an airskin around Ceres.

Panel 3
Back in the stateroom. Babbette has a question.
Babbette: Isn't Mars, Inc. talking about an airskin around Mars?
Reggie: Yes, they're talking about it. The Mercurians are doing it.
Reggie: At one time, even Venus was considered a candidate for paraterraforming.

Panel 4
Medium close-up on Reggie. Leave extra room for all the dialog.
Reggie: The idea was to create a reflective airskin in the upper atmosphere, that would reflect sunlight away in the daytime and on the night side, radiate heat back into space.
Reggie: Now that we know there is life there, cooling Venus is probably off the table.