Which world would you Colonize (RAR!)

[Zor]

First RAR! thread i have done in some time

In this scenario, Q in his daily act of dickery has picked you up and decided to put you onto a colony ship about 1,000 years in the future. In this scenario, a very unusual binary star system with four habitable planets and around 2200, China, The EU, Russia and the United States have decided to claim this system (Known as the Darwin System). You are a colonist aboard the first ship to arrive (Q allows you to fiddle with which one this is, either PRC, EU, Russian or American) with a lead of one to two years on the other. Here any nasty medical conditions you might have had have been delt with via 23rd Century nanotechnological medicine, and (as is common in this day and age due to genetic engineering and medical nanotechnology) you will most likely to see your 150th birthday and age accordingly.

Each colony ship has about 15,000 colonists and enough material inside it to set up a basic colony, including prefab buildings, hydrogen powered vehicles, Seed Stocks, Frozen Ova and Exowombs for growing livestock, nanorobotic computer growth systems, machine tools and computer databanks to help in setting up industry and to store cultural material so you can listen to Beethoven, Frank Sinatra and AC/DC, Play Halo and watch all nine Star Trek series, WALL-E, the Star Wars Films and there 2130s Japanese Remakes in your free time. None of the colony ships are armed and no weapon exists beyond hunting rifles comprable to an M1 Garand for hunting. It is expected to be at least fifty years before spacecraft construction begins, if all goes smoothly.

The critical choice here is simple, you have been given the ability to suconciously determine to which of the four habitable worlds will be colonized. They are as such...

Atlantis-(Darwin B-1), Atlantis is a Planet orbiting the Secondary star of the Darwin System, about 50 AU from Darwin-A. Atlantis is fairly earthlike in terms of size, gravity (1.02Gs), mineral composition and so forth, although without the axial tilt and a year of only 200 days and a day 35 hours long. It also has a similar mean temperature to Earth. It differs, however, in that 95% of it's surface is ocean. What land that does exist is broken up into about 30 major island chains, with the largest island being the size of Honshu. There is some land based vegetation and a few primitive land creatures, but sea life is diverse. Atlantis has two moons roughly 500 kilometers in Diameter. Darwin B has two other planets orbiting it that are similar to mars and mecury in terms of size and position, as well as a thick asteriod belt 700,000,000 KM from it, which is the only Asteriod Belt in system.

Vulcan-(Darwin A-1), Vulcan is the closest planet orbiting the Primary Star. It is slightly smaller than earth and has 0.85G Gravity, although is more geologically active and tidally locked. Most of the Night side of the planet is comprable in many respects to Antarctica. instead of oceans, Vulcan has a variety of small seas. The day side is more hospitable, although there is more in the line of volcanic eruptions and Earthquakes than on Earth and their is an equatorial "High noon Desert" the size of Australia. It has very well developed plant and animal life (the two catagories often overlapping). Vulcan receives a considerable amount of ultraviolet radiation due to it's proximity to its primary, about twice to three times what terra receives on the Day side. Vulcan has no moon.

Ra-(Darwin A-2), Ra is a world that is generally earthlike in terms of size, gravity (1.05g), geological composition geological activity with about sixty precent coverage in water. However, it is notable for having a brief day only 13 hours long and being on a fourty five degree axial tilt. As such, Ra has extreme seasonal shifts and intense weather patterns. This is further increased by the fact that Ra has a moon comprable in most ways to earth's.

Foundation-(Darwin A-3) Foundation is a world that is somewhat cooler than Terra, but it's tropical regions are still fairly nice. It has about 50% coverage by seas, has an atmosphere twice as dense as earth's and has the most advanced animal life in the Darwin System. Foundation also does not have a rotational axis at all and a day thats 28 hours long. However, Foundation is also the biggest inhabited planet and has gravity of 1.4gs. It has four moons ranging in size from 100 to 1000 kilometers across. Foundation is also rich in valuable minerals, including Gold and Uranium and has the largest deposits of fossil fuels.

Please note that the likely scenario that will unfold is that one colony ship will claim one planet and that eventually and likely within your extended lifetimes, these colonies will be interacting with each other. Q has also asured you that these planets have no sapient lifeforms native to them. As such, which one do you settle to settle on?

Zor

[Agent Sorchus]

Ra is going to be one of the easier planets to settle and adapt to. My pick so long as we have slightly good selection of seeds that are quick to grow from seed to harvest. Sever weather is not too much of a problem after the first few years.

Atlantis is probably the easiest in the short term but is going to have a more costly industry do to sub-ocean resource extraction.

Vulcan would be hell to colonize. Ice-locked resources and no seasons would play merry hell on humans. Though the sunside would be nice for solar power.

And foundation would be decent if odd. The high gravity is unappealing but not to crippling.

Still Ra will be my choice, just have to get used to having the night go by at the midpoint of the waking hours.

[Peptuck]

Foundation seems like the most strategically stable planet.

Atlantis doesn't offer much surface space for development, necessiating development of underwater/aquatic technology if we're going to expand in any meaningful way. Vulcan is also stable, but the temperature extremes weaken habitability, and Ra's intense weather shifts would also present a hazard to development.

By comparison, we can build up fast on Foundation without having to worry about developing specialized technology or dealing with severe local environmental hazards. The good resource supplies are also a boon. The only issue is the high gravity, which would make first-generation colonists' lives pretty hard. But hey, we'll all be really buff by the end of the first year!

[Lord Relvenous]

Foundation is not only for early colonists because of its higher gravity, but also it's denser air coupled with the higher gravity. Muscle, joint and bone fatigue is going to be a major concern for early colonists, as the extra strain placed on them by a higher air pressure and greater gravity will take its toll, or at least as far as I can tell. If there's anything wrong in my thinking, feel free to inform me.

Another concern with Foundation is the cost of launching things into orbit will be higher than the smaller planets, especially Vulcan. Also the cost of construction will be higher than the other planets.

While Foundation is still probably the most desirable of the planets, I'd definitely say it's not a perfect choice.

[Junghalli]

Ra is going to be one of the easier planets to settle and adapt to.

With half the planet experiencing midnight sun? The seasonal variations will be very extreme; it will not be a pleasant place to live. The short rotation period will also make for stronger winds.

Foundation and Atlantis both sound more pleasant to me, although the colonies there will have handicaps in the long run. Atlantis will lack resources, of course, and Foundation's high gravity will be a handicap when they begin to develop a space program.

If Foundation's escape velocity is proportionate to its surface gravity I'll probably take Foundation. It sounds like the nicest place and an orbital velocity of 11.2 km/s isn't too bad.

[Thanas]

Atlantis.

For one thing, you have plenty of food sources, no gravity to adjust too etc.

With 15.000 colonists, you do not need any land bigger than Honshu. If over 103 million can easily survive there, then I say that is enough for the next 50 generations. And by that time space travel will be available anyway.

[Guardsman Bass]

I'll have to go with Atlantis. The relatively under-developed native land life will help in settlement, plus our surface area isn't that limited; as Thanas mentioned, a Honshu-sized island is easily big enough to serve as the "hub" for a colony. We won't be working against the climate, like with Vulcan and Ra, or against gravity, like with Foundation. That much ocean coverage will probably give most of the islands a "maritime" climate that will balance out any temperature extremes. Of course, the Atlantis colony will have to make ship-building a top priority in terms of infrastructure.

I do have a question about Atlantis, though. Are there shallower parts of its world ocean, like the equivalent of continental shelves - or are all of its islands volcanic in origin? I'm just wondering whether or not the colonists are going to have to develop their sea-based mining and industry in an almost purely deep-ocean environment, or whether they'll have some significantly shallower major areas of it.

Foundation does have its resources, but one thing does worry me - with only 50% ocean coverage, and a larger world than Earth, you're probably going to get some really massive continental areas, and the interiors of those areas will almost certainly experience extreme seasonal shifts. That won't really limit settlement, but it might limit your ability to harvest all the planet's resources (plus introduce some interesting weather patterns).

And will its seas be navigable? This is obviously guessing (since I don't know what Zor has in mind in terms of Foundation's map), but with a colder planet and no axial tilt (meaning effectively little to no sunlight near the poles), the planet is going to have some serious polar ice caps. What if these happen to be situated in or near its oceans? Sea ice would be rather annoying for transportation reasons.

Ra-(Darwin A-2), Ra is a world that is generally earthlike in terms of size, gravity (1.05g), geological composition geological activity with about sixty precent coverage in water. However, it is notable for having a brief day only 13 hours long and being on a fourty five degree axial tilt. As such, Ra has extreme seasonal shifts and intense weather patterns. This is further increased by the fact that Ra has a moon comprable in most ways to earth's.

As others have mentioned, those seasonal shifts are going to be brutal unless you're living on the equator - and with such a short rotation period, the winds will be pretty horrid as well. The lower ocean cover will probably make the seasons even more extreme.

Vulcan-(Darwin A-1), Vulcan is the closest planet orbiting the Primary Star. It is slightly smaller than earth and has 0.85G Gravity, although is more geologically active and tidally locked. Most of the Night side of the planet is comprable in many respects to Antarctica. instead of oceans, Vulcan has a variety of small seas. The day side is more hospitable, although there is more in the line of volcanic eruptions and Earthquakes than on Earth and their is an equatorial "High noon Desert" the size of Australia. It has very well developed plant and animal life (the two catagories often overlapping). Vulcan receives a considerable amount of ultraviolet radiation due to it's proximity to its primary, about twice to three times what terra receives on the Day side. Vulcan has no moon.

I wouldn't pick this as a primary starting location, but it might be a good area to branch off to once your colony has spaceflight again, especially with the lower gravity and rather stable temperatures.

[Coyote]

Atlantis all the way. Enough land to start with, and eventually we can move down into the sea with underwater or floating habitats. If we're able to cross space like this, then building seahabs and subs will be small potatoes. Undersea mining and other resource-gathering, as well as sea farming and fish to eat (yum)... yeah, it's Atlantis for me.

EDIT: Plus, beach parties, and girls in bikinis. Hell yah.

[Solauren]

Atlantis for the reasons mentioned. (including the beach parties, way to think Coyote!)

Another advantage with Atlantis is, you could move the majority of your civilization and industry underwater, and hide from the other three Darwin System colonies, so they don't consider you a threat or target.

That way, they never see the invasion fleet until it launches....

[Samuel]

Atlantis for the reasons mentioned. (including the beach parties, way to think Coyote!)

Another advantage with Atlantis is, you could move the majority of your civilization and industry underwater, and hide from the other three Darwin System colonies, so they don't consider you a threat or target.

That way, they never see the invasion fleet until it launches....

Plus the water makes a great heat sink for our laser batteries!

[Ariphaos]

Atlantis. If we're seriously looking into ocean-filtration mining and algaculture now, fossil fuels and resources are not going to be an issue. In addition, being around the secondary star means that much more isolation and time to prepare versus worlds that will have to escape their own star's gravity well in order to reach Atlantis. Having complete access to the parent star means free reign to create a statite swarm without having to worry about pesky foreigners when it comes time. And completing that first means you win, end of story game over for everyone else, thank you for playing Death by Sunshine.

[Junghalli]

Giving some thought to it, I'll take Atlantis. It'll be the nicest world in the short term, and by the time you start seriously expanding into space you'll probably be able to exploit the resources of the ocean as well. The isolation is both an advantage and a disadvantage - a disadvantage because it means you don't have two other habitable worlds right next door, an advantage because it means you'll have a longer time to develop on your own free from any possible interference by the other colonies.

I do have a question about Atlantis, though. Are there shallower parts of its world ocean, like the equivalent of continental shelves - or are all of its islands volcanic in origin?

A Honshu-sized island seems quite huge for a volcanic island, although it could be the exposed top of a midocean ridge, like Iceland. A midocean ridge implies Earthlike plate tectonics though, which I think implies continental crust, so it probably is an Earthlike world, just with more water so only the very highest highland regions stick up. The Honshu-sized island is probably the top of a mountain range or a high plateau like Tibet.

[Patrick Degan]

Atlantis does seem a logical choice. Two questions though: what is the range of climate, and what would the frequency/severity of oceanic storms be like on a world of 95% water surface area?

[Ariphaos]

I recall that wave size is proportional to ocean size, so freak waves may actually resemble small tsunamis entirely on their own on such a world. Hurricanes are driven by Coriolis effects, so on a presumably larger planet with slower rotation, they will overall have less force, though there may be more of them. The lack of landmass may actually cause far more distinctive banding than occurs via Earth's circulatory cells, something a few percentage points closer to Jovian banding.

[Guardsman Bass]

Atlantis does seem a logical choice. Two questions though: what is the range of climate, and what would the frequency/severity of oceanic storms be like on a world of 95% water surface area?

I'm not sure exactly how storms would work on an ocean-surface where they could literally go around the planet in certain areas without hitting land (most likely, at least). On the other hand, though, you've got a day that is nearly 50% longer than an Earth day (meaning significantly weaker Coriolis), plus much weaker seasonal extremes (the planet has almost no axial tilt, so the main change in seasons will probably come from any eccentricity in its orbit).

Would you even get ice caps, for example, on such a planet? The planet doesn't have an average temperature much different from that of Earth, but with the massive ocean cover and weak seasonal changes due to the low axial tilt, it seems like Ocean Current Heaven.

[Junghalli]

It's worth pointing out that Earth's Pacific Ocean is already almost half a planet, so we have an example of an unbroken body of water of comparable size (a little less than half as big) here on Earth. This would give us something to go on when it comes to stuff like wave size being proportional to ocean size.

Would you even get ice caps, for example, on such a planet?

I suspect probably not. No land masses for them to accumulate on, and unbroken circulation of water all over the planet, which should even out the temperature.

[TheLostVikings]

Atlantis for many of the aforementioned reasons, but also for the increased land available. Think about it for a moment. At the future point when the different colonies begin to regain space travel, they will be right at each others doorsteps, while you have a whole neighborhood at your disposal.

A mars like planet, perfect for building industrial/military stuff on without having to worry about the environment, just waiting for you to come visit. And if gravity wells are not your favorite cup of tea you got a nice big asteroid belt to utilize as you see fit as well.

It's all about the resources. You are pretty much getting three planets for the price of one, and an entire asteroid belt thrown in for free on top of that. What's not to like?

[Jade Owl]

Atlantis seems the more attractive choice, but another drawback that must be taken into account is the effect of trade. After those first 50 years, when spacecraft building resumes, Vulcan, Darwin and Foundation will be able to trade with each other and help ease any gaps in their respective economies. Over time, we may even see some specialization in their economies. Atlantis on the other hand may become relatively autarkical economy. Scientists and researchers from each of the Three Worlds will be able to travel to all the planets of the Primary with significantly greater ease, while Atlantians would be mostly restricted to telecommunications that wouldn't even be real time.

Over time, this may result in the Three Worlds developing an interplanetary culture of sorts, which combined would have 3 times the population. The Atlantians would do well to avoid isolating themselves from the Three Worlds.

Atlantis may have the greater advantage in natural resources, but those are meaningless without the sufficient manpower to adequately exploit them.

[Ariphaos]

Then gauge your developmental strategy to account for that. You do have a head start, you know.

[speaker-to-trolls]

I wonder, what would one do if one of the other ships decided to land on ones planet of choice once they arrive? Obviously landing first gives you a head start so that you can build a few more weapons, maybe even something to threaten the other ship once it gets too close. But then comes the question of whether it would be better to forge some kind of relationship with that other ship. Come to think of it, trying to convince one of the others to land on Atlantis would significantly help with the problem of relative isolation later on.

Then gauge your developmental strategy to account for that. You do have a head start, you know.

How would one do that? I'm guessing gear all your resources in the direction of 'get us into space so we can nom on those asteroids as soon as possible'

[Ariphaos]

Not necessarily, but possibly. I would focus on getting von Neumann swarms going in space first - self replicating mining facilities. Your goal is to make them fight to catch up to your numerical advantage when they drop in.

You have a one to two year head start. Plus, no matter how buddy buddy they are with each other in the face of your coming juggernaut, they still have three leaders. You are one.