How do you explain Oz?

[Tom Kalbfus]

Oz I0101 A153887 F Poor G
The Albadawi Subsector in the Solomani Rim. (Same place as Krypton)
What we have here is a size 1 World 1600 km in diameter with a thin atmosphere. Size 1 ranges fro 800 km to 2400 km, Pluto is a size 1 World. Our Moon is a size 2 world at 3476, Yet the atmosphere if Oz is breathable. A size 1 world typically has gravity of 0.05g, Yet Oz manages to hold on to a thin breathable atmosphere. You know what y conclusion is? Oz is an artificial world, it has to be to have an atmosphere like this!, its tech level is 15 yets it is classified as Poor. So what do we know about Oz, is it a ball with grav plating or is it a rotating cylinder like this:

 

[Tom Kalbfus]

Maybe Oz is a diskworld, with grav plating, anything is possible.

 

[NOLATrav]

Maybe they have planet-wide atmosphere generators but the cost and infrastructure is so massive it drains the development of any kind of resource development at all.

 

[Tom Kalbfus]

Maybe they have planet-wide atmosphere generators but the cost and infrastructure is so massive it drains the development of any kind of resource development at all.

I think "poor" refers to their level of resources, not their level of wealth, tech level is 15, so they probably export a lot of high tech and import a lot of resources. So how much would it cost to build a diskworld that was 1600 km in diameter, put grav plating underneath, add walls that are 500 km high, the disk flips end over end like a coin for whatever day length is desired. The starport would be located at the rim of the diskworld, there would be a giant airlock and hangar. Starships would just pull in like ships of the sea. The air wall could be transparent, so on one side you have nice countryside on the other you have space!

The other question is how did Dorothy get there? Maybe there is a wormhole generator that causes tornadoes!

 

[Tom Kalbfus]

Here is a map of the flat world of Oz. As you can see Emerald City is in the Center. Munchkinland is the the East, Winkieland is to the west. So if visitors come in through the east gate, they are going to encounter a lot of short people!

 

[Condottiere]

So the next system to look out for is Arda, another planet where Munchkins are reported to dwell.

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

Somewhere buried within this site is actually a reasonable explanation for how you get this.

There is a dome that covers the entire world. Perhaps it started out as a series of domes that grew together as the population grew. Now, the entire surface is covered with a dome that has a THIN rating, as it is the the lowest pressure/cost to provide a shirt-sleeve environment for the population.

The low Hydrographics rating is the "surface" water, as most of the water is sub-surface and this small amount represents the combined area of the various ponds and small lakes within the parkland areas under the dome.

 

[atpollard]

There is a dome that covers the entire world. Perhaps it started out as a series of domes that grew together as the population grew. Now, the entire surface is covered with a dome that has a THIN rating, as it is the the lowest pressure/cost to provide a shirt-sleeve environment for the population.

The low Hydrographics rating is the "surface" water, as most of the water is sub-surface and this small amount represents the combined area of the various ponds and small lakes within the parkland areas under the dome.

That is actually a REALLY cool idea. A size 1.1 transparent bubble around a size 1 world to hold in an atmosphere. The Highport and Downport are both the same structure that just extends through the 'dome' to allow you to land on the roof or dock at a geostationary tether and take a lift to the surface. At the microgravity of a size 1 world, this becomes easily buildable ... certainly no harder than hollowing out 70% of an asteroid.

 

[Tom Kalbfus]

There is a dome that covers the entire world. Perhaps it started out as a series of domes that grew together as the population grew. Now, the entire surface is covered with a dome that has a THIN rating, as it is the the lowest pressure/cost to provide a shirt-sleeve environment for the population.

The low Hydrographics rating is the "surface" water, as most of the water is sub-surface and this small amount represents the combined area of the various ponds and small lakes within the parkland areas under the dome.

That is actually a REALLY cool idea. A size 1.1 transparent bubble around a size 1 world to hold in an atmosphere. The Highport and Downport are both the same structure that just extends through the 'dome' to allow you to land on the roof or dock at a geostationary tether and take a lift to the surface. At the microgravity of a size 1 world, this becomes easily buildable ... certainly no harder than hollowing out 70% of an asteroid.

The way I see it, if you are going to make an artificial habitat for humans, you would want it to be mostly land, as you aren't building it for the fishes, so 40% hydrographics sounds reasonable for an artificial world, and if its artificial, then you would expect the temperature and humidity levels to be reasonably comfortable all around, that means no deserts. Deserts frankly are a waste of space. The world's circulation system would make sure that the water is properly distributed without need of making most of the World's surface ocean.

 

[Prime_Evil]

I seem to recall that Paul McAuley's Quiet War featured a couple of asteroid habitats similar to this where an asteroid is enclosed within an artificial membrane that holds a breathable atmosphere for human colonists despite the low surface gravity. Although the majority of the colonists live underground, access to the surface is vital to generate solar power and develop self-sustaining ecosystems. I've never thought that this could be used to make an entire world habitable, but it might be an approach that is cheaper than other forms of terraforming and make low-mass planets in a star's habitable zone into potentially desirable real estate. Radiation shielding might be an issue though, since small planets are unlikely to retain the molten core necessary to generate a protective magnetosphere.

 

[atpollard]

Radiation shielding might be an issue though, since small planets are unlikely to retain the molten core necessary to generate a protective magnetosphere.

Substances rich in Hydrogen (like water and Plastic) are reported to make a good radiation shielding ... I heard that is why Bigalow claims that their inflatable habitats are safe for deep space exploration living space.
This would be a giant Bigalow with a rock in the center.

 

[Tom Kalbfus]

I seem to recall that Paul McAuley's Quiet War featured a couple of asteroid habitats similar to this where an asteroid is enclosed within an artificial membrane that holds a breathable atmosphere for human colonists despite the low surface gravity. Although the majority of the colonists live underground, access to the surface is vital to generate solar power and develop self-sustaining ecosystems. I've never thought that this could be used to make an entire world habitable, but it might be an approach that is cheaper than other forms of terraforming and make low-mass planets in a star's habitable zone into potentially desirable real estate. Radiation shielding might be an issue though, since small planets are unlikely to retain the molten core necessary to generate a protective magnetosphere.

Depends on whether they are natural planets or artificial. In Traveller, the technology exists to make flat disk-shaped planets using artificial gravity generators powered by fusion reactors, the same fusion reactors that can provide power for an artificial magnetic field. Oz, it appears, is a small place, it is about 1600 km in diameter, but that could just as easily be the diameter of a disk rather than a ball. Maybe the "Wizard of Oz" is more of a tech wizard than he let on, maybe he is from Kansas, but it could be from the Kansas of the Solomani Rim Terra, maybe he has a time machine that can reach into the past, and suck up some farm house with a poor girl and her dog from the late 19th century inside. As the stats say, Oz has a thin but breathable atmosphere, open up a portal to Earth's Standard atmosphere and it is likely to create something like a tornado as the air rushes through. Make the portal big enough and an entire farmhouse can pass through. The local Munchkins are a bit of rubes, they don't know there isn't a star called "Kansas" and they don't get about enough to know much about Earth's geography. So what parts of Oz magic can be simulated by Traveller tech. I believe a flying broom might be possible with minaturied grav vehicle components. I think flying monkeys might be genetically engineered, and well as a breed of Poppies with sedative qualities.

 

[spirochete]

Somewhere buried within this site is actually a reasonable explanation for how you get this.

There is a dome that covers the entire world. Perhaps it started out as a series of domes that grew together as the population grew. Now, the entire surface is covered with a dome that has a THIN rating, as it is the the lowest pressure/cost to provide a shirt-sleeve environment for the population.

The concept is sometimes called "Worldhouse". It is the rationale I use for the Size 1 worlds in the Spinward Marches with breathable atmosphere - canopied "terrarium" worlds.

 

[Tom Kalbfus]

Somewhere buried within this site is actually a reasonable explanation for how you get this.

There is a dome that covers the entire world. Perhaps it started out as a series of domes that grew together as the population grew. Now, the entire surface is covered with a dome that has a THIN rating, as it is the the lowest pressure/cost to provide a shirt-sleeve environment for the population.

The concept is sometimes called "Worldhouse". It is the rationale I use for the Size 1 worlds in the Spinward Marches with breathable atmosphere - canopied "terrarium" worlds.

It would make landing on them a bit tricky. You wouldn't want to land on the roof after all! People might not like that!

 

[atpollard]

It would make landing on them a bit tricky. You wouldn't want to land on the roof after all! People might not like that!

Google airships, you could just dock with a pole and ride the elevator down to the surface ... no need to land at all. That's the beauty of a size 1 world, the whole planet is a highport.