Crashing Planets Together

--- In spacesettlers@yahoogroups.com, "Xenophile" wrote:
> --- In spacesettlers, "rick000brooks" wrote:
>
> > --- In spacesettlers, "Brad Walsh" wrote:
>
> >>> Why would be crashing planets together? That just plan nuts!
>
> >> I assume he's frustrated that the ones we have now in the H2O zone
> >> don't have everything he wants, so he's hoping for some kind of
> >> macro-level alchemy to make a second habitable planet in ol' Sol's
> >> brood of chicks.
> >> Shows the lengths terraformers will go to avoid caving in to the
> >> Island 3 arguments.
> >>
> >>
> >> Brad
>
> > Science fiction writer L. Neil Smith had a story where Venus was
> > blown up to make batches of space colonies from.
> >
> > Maybe that shows the lengths we'll go to in avoiding terraforming
> > arguments. :)
>
> OK. How many habitats could you make from Venus? As we've
> established that it is OK to crash it into Mars and Mercury, it aught
> to be OK to blow it up.
>
> Xennophile (or even Mercury?)

Who knows? Depends on what Venus is made up of, how much is lost in the explosion, how wasteful the builders are, etc.

I'd guess more than the entire asteroid belt, but I doubt that we know how much is there.

Rick