Would a ring around the Earth float?

If we built a giant ring around Earth at just the right height everywhere, then in theory, the ring would just float there once the supports were removed. However, (and this is the reason not to try it) this is an unstable state. If you so much as tap on one side of the ring, the whole thing will come crashing down.

What is the halo around Earth?

Known as an airglow, these bands of light are generated in the upper layers of our atmosphere and stretch anywhere from 50-400 miles. Airglow is a phenomenon in our Earth’s upper atmosphere, more specifically the ionosphere.

Why is there a blue ring around Earth?

Incidently: the blue aura, in this case, is actually caused by a physics phenomina called Rayleigh Scattering which is where the atmosphere has the effect of appearing to change the wavelength of light as it passes through. Often this can be blue, however in some situations it might be red.

Could the Ringworld get Earth-like gravity?

To get Earth-like gravity, the Ringworld would need to spin at nearly three million miles per hour. Very fast, to be sure. But in a frictionless space environment, it could be doable. The ring could work up to that speed over time and then maintain it with little additional thrusting.

Could ringworlds ever be built?

In Neill Blomkamp’s Elysium, meanwhile, the ringworld orbits the Earth, and is more akin to a space station. But in the real world, how likely is it that these rings could ever be built? As with all things, size matters. Ringworlds are megastructures – and as such would require an incredible amount of material and energy to build.

What are some examples of orbital rings on other planets?

So, you could build these orbital rings around Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and the Sun for example.

What would happen if we had an orbital ring?

If we had an orbital ring, we could send people to space for a cost comparable to that of a plane ticket. This would cause quite the boom in the space tourism industry. For the first time in our species history, millions and eventually billions of us would be commuting between Earth and space every year due to the ultra-low cost to go to space.