From: blue.planet.23uy9m@spacebanter.com   
      
   mark.foskey@gmail.com Wrote:   
   >   
   > In the 60s it was speculated that the Moon is the reason the Earth's   
   > atmosphere isn't like that of Venus.  The idea was that, even though   
   > its gravity is so much less than Earth's, it would perturb enough   
   > molecules to escape velocity over time that the amount of atmosphere   
   > would be depleted.  Larry Niven picked up on that and incorporated it   
   > into at least two stories.  It was never a widely held hypothesis, and   
   > since it was first proposed better modeling indicates that Venus' fate   
   > was sealed simply by its proximity to the Sun.   
   >   
   > I once asked about that here years ago, and Henry Spencer said that a   
   > lot of science speculation that Niven used in his stories came from   
   > Tommy Gold, an iconoclastic astronomer who was part of the steady   
   > state   
   > universe crowd (with Fred Hoyle) and also is known for having gotten   
   > in   
   > a row with NASA during Apollo.  All of this is from memory and   
   > possibly   
   > way inaccurate.   
   Larry Niven is probably where I got that idea.   
      
   It's interesting to read that the moon actually stabilizes the Earth   
   and makes it more habitable. Also that liquid water may have played an   
   important role in reflecting solar radiation to keep the world cool.   
      
   Thanks.   
      
      
   --   
   blue.planet   
      
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