- Floating city (science fiction)
In
science fiction , floating cities are settlements that strictly usebuoyancy to remain in the atmosphere of a planet. However the term generally refers to any city that is flying, hovering, or otherwise suspended in the air via any means technological or even magical.Earth
In
Jonathan Swift 's satiricalnovel "Gulliver's Travels ", Swift envisionedLaputa , an island city floated in the sky. The island was suggested to levitate above the Earth by use of the force ofmagnetism . In the 1920s,Hugo Gernsback speculated about floating cities of the future, suggesting that 10,000 years hence "the city the size of New York will float several miles above the surface of the earth, where the air is cleaner and purer and free from disease carrying bacteria." To stay in the air, "four gigantic generators will shoot earthward electric rays which by reaction with the earth produce the force to keep the city aloft." [see [http://davidszondy.com/future/city/floatingcity.htm illustration from the magazine "Science and Invention", February 1922] , on Urban Utopias web page (accessed September 23, 2008)]Although Swift's proposal was intended as satire,
Buckminster Fuller proposed the concept more seriously in the form of theCloud nine (Tensegrity sphere) megastructure [cite book | last = Fuller | first = Buckminster| coauthors = Kiyoshi Kuromiya | title = [http://buckminster.info/Biblio/By/By-BkTOC-CriticalPath.htm Critical Path] | publisher = St. Martin's Griffin | date = 1981 | isbn = 0312174918] , in which he envisioned a dome over an entire city, allowing it to float freely in the sky and move wherever it was blown by wind across the surface of the Earth. He proposed a one-mile diameter geodesic sphere that would be heated by sunlight, functioning as athermal airship .Venus
see also:
Colonization of Venus A design similar to Fuller's "Cloud Nine" might permit habitation in the upper atmosphere of Venus, where at ground level the temperature is too hot and the
atmospheric pressure too great. As proposed byGeoffrey A. Landis , the easiest planet (other than Earth) to place floating cities at this point would appear to beVenus [cite journal|last=Landis |first=Geoffrey A.| year=2003| title=Colonization of Venus| url=http://scitation.aip.org/getabs/servlet/GetabsServlet?prog=normal&id=APCPCS000654000001001193000001| journal=Conference on Human Space Exploration, Space Technology & Applications International Forum, Albuquerque NM| month=Feb. 2-6] . Because the thick carbon dioxide atmosphere is 50% denser than air, breathable air (21:79 Oxygen-Nitrogen mixture) is a lifting gas in the dense Venusian atmosphere, with over 60% of the lifting power thathelium has on Earth. In effect, a balloon full of human-breathable air would sustain itself and extra weight (such as a colony) in midair. This means that any large structure filled with air would float on thecarbon dioxide , with the air's natural buoyancy counteracting the weight of the structure itself. [cite web| last = Atkinson| first = Nancy| title = Colonizing Venus With Floating Cities| publisher =Universe Today | date = July 16th, 2008| url = http://www.universetoday.com/2008/07/16/colonizing-venus-with-floating-cities/ | format =| accessdate = 2008-09-23 ]At an altitude of 50 km above the Venusian surface, the environment is the "most Earthlike in the solar system" [Landis, quoted in Atkinson "op. cit."] , with a
pressure of approximately 1 bar andtemperature s in the 0°C-50°C range [Citation| last = Seif| first = A.| editor-last = Hunten "et al".,| editor-first = D. M. | contribution = Thermal Structure of the Atmosphere of Venus| title = Venus| pages = 215-279| publisher = University of Arizona Press| place = Tucson, AZ| year = 1985] . Because there is not a significant pressure difference between the inside and the outside of the breathable-air balloon, any rips or tears would cause gases to diffuse at normal atmospheric mixing rates, giving time to repair any such damages. In addition, humans would not requirepressurized suit s when outside, merely air to breathe and a protection from the acidic rain.Since such colonies would be viable in current Venusian conditions, this allows a dynamic approach to colonization instead of requiring extensive terraforming measures in advance. The main challenge would be using a substance resistant to
sulfuric acid to serve as the structure's outer layer;ceramic s or metalsulfate s could possibly serve in this role. (The sulfuric acid itself may prove to be the main motivation for creating the structure in the first place, as the acid has proven to be extremely useful for many different purposes.)Other Planets
In addition to Venus, floating cities have been proposed in science fiction on several other planets. For example, floating cities might also permit settlement of the outer three
gas giant s, as the gas giants lack solid surfaces.Jupiter is unacceptable for habitation due to its highgravity ,escape velocity andradiation , but thesolar system 's other gas giants (Saturn ,Uranus , andNeptune ) may be more practical. In 1978, theBritish Interplanetary Society 'sProject Daedalus envisioned floating factories in the atmospheres of Jupiter refiningHelium-3 to produce fuel for aninterstellar probe .Michael McCollum notes that the "surface" gravity ofSaturn (that is, at the visible cloud layer, where the atmospheric pressure is about the same as Earth's) is very close to that of Earth, and in his novelThe Clouds of Saturn , he envisioned cities floating in the Saturnian atmosphere, where the buoyancy is provided by envelopes ofhydrogen heated byfusion reactors . Uranus and Neptune also have "surface" gravities comparable to Earth's, and even lower escape velocities than Saturn."Cloud cities" have also been proposed, floating by means of
antigravity or other science-fictional means, on a number offictional planet s, most notably atBespin in theStar Wars filmThe Empire Strikes Back .Examples
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Cloud City is a floating city onBespin , a fictionalplanet in theStar Wars universe managed byLando Calrissian .*In the episode, "
The Cloud Minders ," Stratos is a fictional floating city on the planet Ardana and ruled by High Advisor Plasus.*In the Firefly episode Trash, the planet of Bellerophon is shown to be host to dozens of floating estates with "gracious living, ocean views and state-of-the-art security."
*The novel "
Orion Shall Rise " byPoul Anderson features anaerostat city called "Skyholm," located above present-dayFrance .*In the novel "
The Ringworld Engineers ",Louis Wu seeks a way to save the Ringworld by bartering for information in the library of a floating city.*SkyTown is a floating city on planet Elysia in "" from the "Metroid" video game series.
*Airhaven is a floating city in the
Mortal Engines Quartet, that, through attaching gas bags, lifted itself into the air to avoid cities trying to eat it according toMunicipal Darwinism .*There are numerous floating habitats on the Venus-like planet
Chilo inTobias S. Buckell 's novelSly Mongoose . Buckell creditsGeoffrey A. Landis with providing the background information on the floating cities. [Buckell, Tobias, "The Big Idea: Tobias Buckell" interview in [http://scalzi.com/whatever/?p=1374 Whatever] , Aug. 19, 2008 (Retrieved on 2008-09-23).]*There are several floating cities in the games
Skies of Arcadia for theSega Dreamcast andSkies of Arcadia Legends for theNintendo Gamecube .*Atlantis from the "Stargate" universe is a probable example of a floating city. Although the city ship weights several million tons, it is buoyant enough to float on water and, given that it's energy shield can hold the atmosphere inside nearly indefinitely, it should be able to float in a particularly dense atmoshpere.
ee also
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Colonization of Venus
*Walking city References
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