A space station that could not fall?

Question

If you were to build a space station that was essenially a large ring that encompased the planet, it would be falling in all directions and therefore be unable to fall correct? Assuming of course it was engineered to sustain the strain.

Answer 1

You are correct.

That would be an adaptation of a Dyson sphere.

Answer 2

you are essentially talking about an adaptation of a dyson sphere http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_spher...

however the system you propose would NOT be stable.. it has been proved that a *rigid* dyson sphere, like the one in your question is not viable.  The net gravitational attraction between the sphere and the mass it encloses is zero, this leaves it vulnerable to other forces exerted on it (for example a meteor hit, solar radiation forces) which would eventually cause it to drift and collide with the object inside it.  Not to mention the fact that you proposed a ring, not a sphere, which it seems to me would be even more vulnerable to an unbalancing of forces...

interesting question though!

Answer 3

No problem.... I'll have it up there for you next week...assuming the check clears.

Answer 4

You're right - the engineering would be very complex, and the amount of material required would be immense (I don't have the math, but the material needed would likely be a significant percentage of the moon's mass).

Freeman Dyson came up with the idea of a sphere enclosing a star (called a Dyson Sphere) to harness all of a star's power.  What you are talking about would be a modification of his idea.

Author Larry Niven wrote a series of novels about a similar concept, called a Ringworld, that was basically a giant ring instead of a spherical planet circling a star.

There are logistical challenges.  A ring around the Earth would not be stable over long timeframes, and would require rocket thrust adjustments to keep it centred - small perturbations of the ring (by the moon, the Earth's less-than-perfect orbit around the sun, etc.) would cause the ring to drift a little and it would have to be brought back into position regularly.

Answer 5

Yes.  At the La Grange points between Earth and the Moon.

Answer 6

I think the moon would perturb it.....it would be cool though.