“Believe it or not, that’s kind of a reasonable estimate,” he said. “However, I wouldn’t wish anyone to be stuck in a car with anyone else for that long of a time. You and your best friend may not be best friends after that trip.”
According to Mikhailov, once on Venus, the travelers would have to consider the inhospitableness of the planet’s atmosphere. The planet’s temperature is a serious concern to human life and the equipment used to facilitate a working environment would be destroyed by the intense heat. Therefore, Mars—with its extremely cold temperatures—would probably be a better choice for humans to colonize even though it is farther away than Venus, said Mikhailov.
“Just think about how hot your oven gets when you’re baking cookies at an average temperature of about 400 degrees Fahrenheit,” he said. “Well, double that number on the planet of Venus. The planet’s overall [surface] pressure is dangerous to human physiology as well. Our computers which we will need to operate on Venus are designed to operate within the Earth’s normal temperature. Maybe a little below the point of freezing and maybe up to the point of boiling water. So, our equipment would be damaged or destroyed almost immediately and that will make living there very difficult.”
However, there are a few things a human would appreciate living on the surface of Venus, Mikhailov said.
“We would feel slightly lighter [in weight],” he said. “The gravitational pull on that planet’s surface is about 90 percent that of Earth’s. So, that means we could possibly jump a little higher and walk a little easier.”
Currently, Mikhailov is working on several quantum optics projects. In particular he is researching the imaging of the squeezed (below standard quantum limit) quantum states. He and his team hope to have preliminary results within the coming year.