Mobile planets
- Thread starter Unicron
- Start date
How could you control seasonal patterns and their effects on life on the surface if you could move them around? Even if you had solved the problem of moving such a huge mass at decent speed, there would be too many variable to deal with. It would probably be more practical to build from ground up a death star capable of moving
Depends on how you make it. Do you simply hijack a planet and use its as a type of power source via conversion drive, or do you actually build a giant planet specifically to function as a vehicle?
The former is feasible for someone who has developed Genesis-Device technology. You could program a genesis torpedo with a set of instructions and drop it on a planet, then watch that planet turn into a giant version of the Fesarius while you wait. Obviously, it would run out of fuel before too long, but not before you make it to the next solar system to find a replacement planet you can steal.
That's a valid question when it comes to a planet like Earth that has life forms on it. It seems from some of the examples I've seen in fiction, this is not necessarily a problem. One notable example is Cybertron being implied to be a potentially mobile planet in the Transformers comics, and later being retconned to be Primus' alternate form.
The last base in the game Descent 2 was also shown to be mobile, although it's not clear whether it was designed with this ability or not. Since the series focused on mining robots that were infected with a virus, I suppose it's possible they could have modified the base somehow.
The last base in the game Descent 2 was also shown to be mobile, although it's not clear whether it was designed with this ability or not. Since the series focused on mining robots that were infected with a virus, I suppose it's possible they could have modified the base somehow.
In the original (and still best) Ringworld, the Pierson Puppeteers were migrating across the galaxy with their planet(s), 5 if IIRC, in a rosette formation around their parent star.
Always thought that was a pretty cool idea. Very "Niven"...
Cheers,
-CM-
Always thought that was a pretty cool idea. Very "Niven"...
Cheers,
-CM-
*Doh*
You're right -- dang, been a while since I read Ringworld. Need to correct that problem in the near future.
Still, it's a cool idea...
Cheers,
-CM-
Quite right. But say you like your planet and you want it to be its own mobile battlestation...
I'm hearing voices...in the dark..."One moon...circles," they say. What if it's the planet that's the moon and the star the planet?
Move the sun along with the planet. Imagine a mobile mini solar system - lone star and planet. Hell, you could make the star circle the planet...its own celestial mace frying anything that gets near. ...How's that for a technological terror to be proud of?
Probably a power source capable of moving a planet at warp would also be a practicable source for firing up an almost literally pocket-sized star. The planet could be the, well, planet, and the star(s) could circle it like small moon(s).
It's still a bit unclear if the Founder hideout in "The Search" was a starless drifter. Some sort of illumination was seen, but no real "daylight" or a single point source of light. But Archer and pals supposedly encountered a real drifter planet in, wait for it, "Rogue Planet".
No drive system there in either case, but it might sometimes pay off to jettison a habitable planet from its known and militarily vulnerable orbit and send it to an unpredictable journey through interstellar space. Rigging life support for such a world might be easier going than building an ark or armada of similar capabilities from keels up; an advanced culture would probably already have its habitable homeworld equipped with careful, Coruscant/Trantor style weather and climate manipulation that replaces the original natural processes.
Timo Saloniemi
It's still a bit unclear if the Founder hideout in "The Search" was a starless drifter. Some sort of illumination was seen, but no real "daylight" or a single point source of light. But Archer and pals supposedly encountered a real drifter planet in, wait for it, "Rogue Planet".
No drive system there in either case, but it might sometimes pay off to jettison a habitable planet from its known and militarily vulnerable orbit and send it to an unpredictable journey through interstellar space. Rigging life support for such a world might be easier going than building an ark or armada of similar capabilities from keels up; an advanced culture would probably already have its habitable homeworld equipped with careful, Coruscant/Trantor style weather and climate manipulation that replaces the original natural processes.
Timo Saloniemi
Suddenly the references to the old T'kon Empire ring a bell...
The T'Kon were thought to be able to move entire solar systems.
The animated episode "The Jihad" featured a feline race called the Vedalans (or something like that) who traveled through the galaxy on mobile asteroids. Very little about them showed up in the episode but there was a lot of detail in Alan Dean Foster's novelization.
The animated episode "The Jihad" featured a feline race called the Vedalans (or something like that) who traveled through the galaxy on mobile asteroids. Very little about them showed up in the episode but there was a lot of detail in Alan Dean Foster's novelization.
You would want it to radiate only in the direction of the planet.
I think it would be better to mobilize a gigantic cylinder (like Babylon 5 but much larger) because you could get the same surface area as a planet with much less mass.
Certainly. Especially if you originally went roaming with the specific aim of not being found by your enemies.
..But if you do decide to move an already existing planet, you probably do want a tiny star of some sort orbiting it like the Sun used to orbit Earth before Galileo moved it. After all, the point apparently then would be to preserve the original habitat and its original conditions, for whatever reason.
If you build a truly planet-sized ark, of whatever design, you probably want to move the entire planetary population anyway. In which case there's little reason to leave the original planet behind; another rationale for utilizing it as your space ark in those circumstances.
On the general concept of moving planets, the best and scariest Trek execution IMHO is Diane Duane's Intellivore. There, the conventional planetary shape serves a sinister purpose... Which is probably already spoiled aplenty by the title of the novel, so no more on that issue.
Timo Saloniemi
Plus it insults crabs.
As people mentioned Cybertron and T'Kon Empires....I also bring up Mondas from Dr. Who. They, for some reason, had to leave the solar system (destruction of Planet 5 between Mars and Jupiter?) and came back eons later, either they had a HUGE orbit, aka Nabiru, or they were able to harness a controllable propulsion system for the entire planet.
Also, the Daleks were trying to make Earth into a mobile planet as well, and they were able to move several other worlds in "The Stolen Earth".
And don't forget Gothos.
trevanian
Rear Admiral
Humans at the end of WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE ... by Foster take Earth and its moon along when they are let out of lockup in order to help a losing battle. I thought that was smart, since without the moon, PMS might mean permanent menstrual syndrome.
I think Foster is posting here, there was a post, maybe in treklit, that referenced TAS in an interesting way ...
http://trekbbs.com/showthread.php?t=106467&page=3
bottom of page 3
I think Foster is posting here, there was a post, maybe in treklit, that referenced TAS in an interesting way ...
http://trekbbs.com/showthread.php?t=106467&page=3
bottom of page 3
You know, you don't really even need the star trailing your planet. You could build an invisible sphere of nanites surrounding your planet from geosynchronous orbit shining down just enough light to illuminate the sky, sans the blinding disk of a sun. Or program them to mimic one, or anything else you'd like to see in your sky. You could turn them on or off to see what's naturally beyond the local firmament. Perhaps they could also cloak the planet, and form a defense perimeter to swarm and destroy or help anything that got nearby.
All Seeing Eye
Admiral
A more logical course of action would be to inhabit a Moon such as Earths moon, build underground cities and propulsion systems etc and move the Moon rather than a liveable planet.
What about a large asteroid hollowed out inside?
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