Stories, especially of the science fiction variety, can come in many shapes and forms. In particular, they usually arise in books or films, however on occasion they can also find themselves in other formats, such as music. In 2019, the psychedelic rock outfit King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard (KGATLW) released their 2nd studio album of the year, titled "Infest the Rat's Nest," which was a heavy trash-inspired album. The album itself explores themes of climate change, science fiction, horror, and the future through a grim and dark setting, painting a picture of what band member and frontman Stu Mackenzie describes as "the future of humanity and the future of planet Earth" (Newstead). The album's narrative in itself can be broken up into 2 separate stories, each with their own distinct and outlandish tales, that are loosely based on real science. Today, I would like to look at the B-side of the album, which, as Stu describes it, "tells the story of a group of rebels who are forced to leave Planet Earth and try to settle on Venus," and see what ties, if any, it has with real astronomy, and if it would ever be possible for humanity to achieve what is told in the album.
The B-side track begins with "Venusian 1," which describes the Earth in the future, becoming as inhospitable as Venus with "desertified (forests)," and "constant tornado (skies)." Because of this, a group of rebels plan to escape Earth in their own vessel, and settle on Venus' atmosphere. Although humanity can't safely land on Venus (due to the temperature of the surface being around 735-975 K, an atmosphere composed of mostly carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and sulfuric acid, and the atmospheric pressure being 96 times that of Earth's, to name a few reasons), it has been proposed that we might be able to settle approximately 50 km from the surface, where it is more hospitable (save for the lack of oxygen in the atmosphere). The end of the track leads into the next, titled "Perihelion." The perihelion of an object that orbits the Sun is the point where it is closest to the Sun during the orbit. Due to Kepler's 2nd Law, it is also the point in said orbit where the object will travel the fastest. In the song, it continues the tale of the rebels, on their way to Venus. By utilizing the gravitational pull of the Sun, the rebels "take even her gravity," and attempt to slingshot their way to Venus. Along the way, they travel at their relative perihelion, gaining speed for the flight to Venus. However, while this is happening, the ship gets hit by a solar flare, which burns up the ship and everyone in it. A solar flare of a large enough magnitude is capable of having the energy of a billion hydrogen bombs (Zell), meaning colliding with one may not be the safest thing to do. Gravity assist orbits are a real thing utilized to reduce the cost of sending spacecraft to other orbiting bodies in a system, relative to the Sun. In the case of this spacecraft, it would not be possible, as it is utilizing the Sun to accelerate relative to the Sun, despite the Sun being "still" relative to the rest of the Solar System. Despite that, the spacecraft can use what is known as a "transfer orbit," in which the spacecraft only propels itself twice, once to enter the transfer orbit, and once more to leave it. The orbit itself is between 2 other orbits, the first being the orbiting body you start off with (in this case Earth), and the second being the orbiting body you end with (in the case Venus). In using this form of orbit, the spacecraft still saves fuel, while potentially being safer, as the perihelion is at Venus, its destination.
Walker, Robert. “Will We Build Colonies That Float Over Venus Like Buckminster Fuller's ‘Cloud Nine’?” Science 2.0, 27 Aug. 2014, www.science20.com/robert_inventor/blog/earth_air_filled_habitats_will_float_over_clouds_venus_future_home_humanity-127573.
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