Earth becomes a Ring World (what if situation)

[Alyeska]

How does the world change…

Lets say tomorrow life as we know it takes a sudden change. Earth is replaced with a Ring World. This Ring World is in the exact same orbit as Earth and is 100,000 km wide. For whatever reason the entire Ring World has functioning environments with representations of Earth’s various climates spread all across the entire Ring and all of Earths animal populations now cover the entire Ring World. Other then the main structure of the ring world (which access can not be gained to) and artificial night covers which move across the sky to simulate night, all the ground and everything acts like a normal planet. Ore deposits still exist as they would. Though no more plate tectonic driven geology.

Earth’s nations, the land we know gets put into an area on the Ring World where they are all together in the best flat cohesion as possible to still keep geography as we know it accurate.

So just how do things change if we were to find ourselves in this situation?

[Chmee]

Well, the Map of Earth on the original Ringworld was not only a minor surface feature, it was in an ocean so big that it took something like the Apollo program just to build a ship capable of crossing the ocean's interplanetary distance.

But, supposing Earth isn't stuck in such an ocean on your Ringworld, you still have an almost incomprehensibly vast surface area to populate. A new Age of Exploration would start, for those that survive the war between all the whacko Earth fundies who go batshit when their deity's representative doesn't show up to explain Heaven to them.

The animal species on the far side of the Ring get a tremendous break, it's going to be a *long* time before any humans show up to pester them.

[Sea Skimmer]

I would imagine that radio and wireless telecommunications in general would be totally fucked up.

[Alyeska]

Nuclear powered exploration ships would become very common.

[Lord Zentei]

Well, the Map of Earth on the original Ringworld was not only a minor surface feature, it was in an ocean so big that it took something like the Apollo program just to build a ship capable of crossing the ocean's interplanetary distance.

That's... pretty impressive. Though not implausible given the scale of those structures. Still, I'd imagine it to be easier than a Hochman transfer. How wide was that ocean, exactly?

But, supposing Earth isn't stuck in such an ocean on your Ringworld, you still have an almost incomprehensibly vast surface area to populate. A new Age of Exploration would start, for those that survive the war between all the whacko Earth fundies who go batshit when their deity's representative doesn't show up to explain Heaven to them.

Do not underestimate the power of the stupid side. They will find some way or other to spin this into their doctrines, and then beleive their own bullshit.

The animal species on the far side of the Ring get a tremendous break, it's going to be a *long* time before any humans show up to pester them.

Give it a millennium or two. Exponential growth and all that.

[Chmee]

Nuclear powered exploration ships would become very common.

They'd have to be generation-ships with the ability to refuel and re-provision independently, they're never going back to their point of origin.

A ship cruising nonstop at 28 knots covers roughly a quarter of a million miles per year ... the Ringworld was 600 million miles in circumference ... so it's going to take you .... roughly a quarter-century to travel 1% of the Ringworld in a straight line, assuming no stops or stayovers, and that's if you steer directly spinward or anti-spinward, so you're seeing very little of the 100,000-km wide sections you're traversing (Niven's Ringworld was a million miles across, IIRC).

[Alyeska]

Why multi-generation ships? Why not just long range exploration ships that slowly explore and set up colonies and the sort. One way to get things jump started quickly is to use construction technology to get an airstrip built and then start flying in some supplies.

[Chmee]

Well, the Map of Earth on the original Ringworld was not only a minor surface feature, it was in an ocean so big that it took something like the Apollo program just to build a ship capable of crossing the ocean's interplanetary distance.

That's... pretty impressive. Though not implausible given the scale of those structures. Still, I'd imagine it to be easier than a Hochman transfer. How wide was that ocean, exactly?

Don't remember the exact dimensions, there were two major oceans on the Ringworld on opposite sides of the ring, and one held 'maps' of all the planets with intelligent life that the Ringworld builders knew about, basically the planets were expanded to a flat map and put in the ocean, where their continents looked like small island chains on the ocean, separated by vast distances.

[Chmee]

Why multi-generation ships? Why not just long range exploration ships that slowly explore and set up colonies and the sort. One way to get things jump started quickly is to use construction technology to get an airstrip built and then start flying in some supplies.

Ah, true, I thought your focus on nuclear power meant a long sustained exploration ... if you're just slowly expanding the edges of human society, then what's the need for nuclear? I guess we don't know if there have been geologic processes to create fossil fuels on this Ringworld (there were none on the original), but you've got one HECK of a lot of space to grow biodiesel crops.

[Alyeska]

Why multi-generation ships? Why not just long range exploration ships that slowly explore and set up colonies and the sort. One way to get things jump started quickly is to use construction technology to get an airstrip built and then start flying in some supplies.

Ah, true, I thought your focus on nuclear power meant a long sustained exploration ... if you're just slowly expanding the edges of human society, then what's the need for nuclear? I guess we don't know if there have been geologic processes to create fossil fuels on this Ringworld (there were none on the original), but you've got one HECK of a lot of space to grow biodiesel crops.

They are likely to make far enough pushes at high enough speeds. Nuclear makes for longer range and faster pushes without need to refuel. Only maintenance which can be mostly done enroute.

[Chmee]

Why multi-generation ships? Why not just long range exploration ships that slowly explore and set up colonies and the sort. One way to get things jump started quickly is to use construction technology to get an airstrip built and then start flying in some supplies.

Ah, true, I thought your focus on nuclear power meant a long sustained exploration ... if you're just slowly expanding the edges of human society, then what's the need for nuclear? I guess we don't know if there have been geologic processes to create fossil fuels on this Ringworld (there were none on the original), but you've got one HECK of a lot of space to grow biodiesel crops.

They are likely to make far enough pushes at high enough speeds. Nuclear makes for longer range and faster pushes without need to refuel. Only maintenance which can be mostly done enroute.

Like I said, it depends on the ocean structure ... if your Earth is in the middle of oceans the size of the original Ringworld, you're 'exploring' empty seas with tremendous storms (think of the weather building on a sea a couple hundred thousand miles across) that will take dozens of years at top speed just to reach another planet-map, much less the Ringworld shoreline for a shore expedition.

If you have a more favorable design with interlinking bodies of water that cover large contiguous chunks of the Ringworld but no large seas, then you can do a lot of exploration as you suggest.

Some people are thinking space shuttles and 'landings' on other parts of the Ring at this point, and I forget the figure, but if somebody can do the math on what velocity you need to achieve orbit from a structure rotating at 770 miles per second, I recall it's pretty scary.

[Alyeska]

The Earth section is fortunate to be in an area that is not massive in ocean size. Some lands will take a good few months for the fastest ships to reach.

BTW, the Earth section is almost landlocked. As in they are surounded by three super massive continents with only three ways to exit by water.

[Chmee]

The Earth section is fortunate to be in an area that is not massive in ocean size. Some lands will take a good few months for the fastest ships to reach.

BTW, the Earth section is almost landlocked. As in they are surounded by three super massive continents with only three ways to exit by water.

Ah ... well, exploration & settlement of those super-continents will take generations anyway .... but if any of them have an abundance of the raw materials that industry depends on while the others don't, I foresee ..... trouble.

[Lord Zentei]

The Earth section is fortunate to be in an area that is not massive in ocean size. Some lands will take a good few months for the fastest ships to reach.

BTW, the Earth section is almost landlocked. As in they are surounded by three super massive continents with only three ways to exit by water.

Ah ... well, exploration & settlement of those super-continents will take generations anyway .... but if any of them have an abundance of the raw materials that industry depends on while the others don't, I foresee ..... trouble.

It depends on the way in which these resources are spread. Naturally the resource rich continents will be settled first. but given their size I daresay there will be enough for everyone for the forseeable future (unless the resource rich areas are tiny in which case they may actually not be found in the first place).

[Zor]

The Peoples' Republic of China, Russian Federation, Japan, European Union and United States of America become Colonial powers very quickly.

Zor

[Noble Ire]

Does this "Ring Earth" get a galaxy-destroying super weapon?

[Stark]

How would satellite orbital mechanics work on a ringworld? You'd have to orbit satellites 'around' the strip of ringworld, right? So half the time it's on the other side, it's 'altitude' would vary dramatically, etc. Doesn't sound very low-tech friendly at all.

[Lord Zentei]

The Peoples' Republic of China, Russian Federation, Japan, European Union and United States of America become Colonial powers very quickly.

Zor

And the rest of the world complains about lack of inclusion in the colonization process. Some call for a UN lead colonization effort. They are ignored, of course.

How would satellite orbital mechanics work on a ringworld? You'd have to orbit satellites 'around' the strip of ringworld, right? So half the time it's on the other side, it's 'altitude' would vary dramatically, etc. Doesn't sound very low-tech friendly at all.

As the ringworld is effectively a long circular strip, gravity does not vary as 1/r^2, so stable orbits "around" the strip would be impossible. The best you could manage would be sattelites in solar orbit (in a orbit closer to the sun, so they would be "above" the surface of the ring).

[Durandal]

A total global communications catastrophe. Our satellites would suddenly crash into the ring world (if they even survive the mysterious transition). These satellites would be irreplaceable, since achieving an effective "falling around" orbit around the ring world while still being able to transmit would be impossible.

I guess you could put satellites on an orbit perpendicular to the orientation of the ring, but there would be two instances during the period of the satellite's orbit where communications would still be entirely cut off, unless someone managed to find a way to beam transmissions through the outer walls of the ring.

[Alyeska]

Couple more things.

The atmosphere is slightly thicker and goes far higher up then it previously did. The edges of the Ring World are not habitable and produce strange weather patterns that make flight towards the very edge impossible. The Ring is not spinning at such a speed to make space travel impossible.

The night covers that move over the ring would interfere with satellite communications if they were ever achieved again.

[Lord Zentei]

Interstellar travel would become easier: haul the ship to the edge of the ring and drop it off of it (a ring of 1.5e11 meter radius spinning for one gee is going quite fast)

I guess you could put satellites on an orbit perpendicular to the orientation of the ring, but there would be two instances during the period of the satellite's orbit where communications would still be entirely cut off, unless someone managed to find a way to beam transmissions through the outer walls of the ring.

You can't: the gravity of the ring would not vary as 1/r^2 (except at great distances), which is a requirement for a stable elliptical orbit. Those sattelites would require a prohibitive onboard fuel source to avoid crashing. Solar orbit is the way to go.

[Alyeska]

Well radio blimps and those high flying solar planes would probably be the best option.

[Chmee]

Couple more things.

The atmosphere is slightly thicker and goes far higher up then it previously did. The edges of the Ring World are not habitable and produce strange weather patterns that make flight towards the very edge impossible. The Ring is not spinning at such a speed to make space travel impossible.

The night covers that move over the ring would interfere with satellite communications if they were ever achieved again.

If the Ringworld is spinning slower, where is the apparent 1g on the surface coming from? Is the ring material sufficiently dense to create such gravity or is there machinery buried in the foundation or something?

[Lord Zentei]

Well radio blimps and those high flying solar planes would probably be the best option.

Yeah, thet would probably be more econimical.

The spin rate needs to be fixed for the g-force on the "surface" though (as Chmee has pointed out).

[GrandMasterTerwynn]

A total global communications catastrophe. Our satellites would suddenly crash into the ring world (if they even survive the mysterious transition). These satellites would be irreplaceable, since achieving an effective "falling around" orbit around the ring world while still being able to transmit would be impossible.

I guess you could put satellites on an orbit perpendicular to the orientation of the ring, but there would be two instances during the period of the satellite's orbit where communications would still be entirely cut off, unless someone managed to find a way to beam transmissions through the outer walls of the ring.

You'd have to launch land-based expeditions to the rim walls, or to high mountains further spinward and anti-spinward to restore your communications capacity. But really, since Earth is now not only effectively flat, but is now slightly concave, you could get away with building radio relay stations on the tops of mountains on the Map of Earth in this case.