Yes, it’s a hypothetical. No poll, though. You’ll see why in a minute.
So it turns out that Gene Roddenberry right. Faster-than-light travel and communication are both possible, and there’s thousands of stargoing humanoid species in our galaxy; some are empires of conquest, while others are peaceful alliances. One of the latter has just made first contact with Earth. There’s a stable natural stargate in Sol orbit, you see, one with connections to several hundred inhabited star systems. As Earth is the only planet in our system with a breathable atmosphere, the civilization in question wishes to establish a spaceport here.
Unlike Star Trek’s Federation, the aliens contacting us don’t insist that a planet have a unified government before establishing relations, but they do insist on dealing with a stable nation. (They do refuse to share offensive weapons tech.) The aliens would like to lease a contiguous space about ten times the area of Chicago’s O’Hare Airport In exchange for regular access to our system, they propose to give humanity technology that will solve our global warming issues. They’ll pay for the lease on the real estate of the spaceport by sharing other advanced technologies with whatever nation provides it.
In case someone insists on knowing the psychology & culture of the aliens, let’s say they’re similar to TOS Vulcans. They can eat our food; they can mate with us (though reproduction requires quite a bit of genetic engineering, and frankly is probably more trouble than its worth); they’re overall quite ethical and a good deal more peaceable than humans. It’s certainly within their power to just neutron-bomb us from orbit and take what they want; they simply refuse to because they feel that is wrong. But neither are they pure altruists. They’d never bother contacting us if not for the wormhole; in general, they’re not going to give us stuff without getting things in return (though once a relationship is establish they’d pitch it for “humanitarian” reasons in the event of a natural disaster and whatnot). Thus they are inviting the nations of the world to make their pitches.
United States: large country with a great deal of influence politically. For all our partisan bitching, we have an extremely stable government that isn’t likely to crumble any time soon (unlike many other nations, where coups and revolutions are quite conceivable, if not a semi-regular occurance.) Lots of open land where a space port could be located without displacing anybody. First-class transportation system to distribute goods to-from the spaceport.
Canada. Say, Thunder Bay, Ontario. That way goods and passengers can be relayed to either the Great Lakes or surface transport easily, but still be far enough away from the unwashed masses to preclude random riots and street violence against “aliens.” Plus, it’s not the US, so that should lessen the degree of political involvement by Congress, which is a bought and paid for arm of the military-industrial complex.
Australia. There’s immense amounts of space with nobody living in some parts of the interior, a stable government, not too many people compared to somewhere like EU or the US.
A lot depends on the technology used to get to and from orbit, and it’s requirements. Some kinds of earth-to-orbit technologies would benefit hugely from equatorial placement, while others wouldn’t.
I’d think that ultimately, some Western country would be the right one, if only because it could provide logistics, services and maintenance much better and more consistently than some developing nation could.
France: Due to the likes of Johnny Hallyday, the inhabitants are well used to horrendous noise involved. Furthermore, thanks to the government’s nuclear plant building program, most of the country is already at risk of becoming an atomic wasteland so there is no more risk for the inhabitants from this untested quantum voodoo than there is at present. Finally, the French already have the work ethic demanded from baggage handlers.
Exactly the sort of thinking I was hoping for, though I’m not sure that the aliens will share your high opinion of the Canadian parliament.
Hmm. Are you sure that low population density will be a plus? I’m not saying it’s not; just that you should justify it.
You are probably right about that. But I didn’t envision, in the OP, that the aliens needed any sort of earth-orbiting station. The stargate or wormhole or whatever is in Sol orbit. I imagine that they want to set up a fuel depot along with repair facilities, hangers, restaurants, and so forth; and of course they want to eventually buy from and sell to humans.
Yeah, but pick a country, man. Earn your consulting fee!
While I will grant that the world’s most skilled barbers live in Clarksdale, Mississippi, I do not see what parting of the hair has to do with the issue at hand.
You want North Korea to get the first crack at warp drive? Even impulse drive?
I wrote that reproduction was difficult, not sex. Also, Hoshi was hotter, not to mention more likely to be, ah, adventurous in the boudoir.
I don’t think you’re clear on what an argument is.
I think the perspective on this question is totally wrong: if aliens are going to give someone advanced technology for a lease on a modest amount of land in a stable country, this is totally a buyer’s (alien’s) market.
Seriously, the aliens’ only requirements are a stable country and 100 square miles of land and will pay in advanced technology? That’s like someone shopping for a house and saying that all they want is 4,000 square feet in an area with a decent school system, and the buyers INSIST on paying in unexercised Apple stock options!
If those are the only criteria, nearly every developed nation on earth has a good shot at being a fine location for this spaceport.
Stable Government is important since a lot of money will go into building this asset
Educated workforce with ability to do repair and serve as a transportation hub for goods going in and out
Lots of space assuming a lot of land is needed for takeoffs and landings
Lax environmental laws since space introduces the possibility of toxic fuel and possible alien life contamination issues
I see no countries along the equator that satisfy #2 and/or #3/4. Assuming we are willing to move further north or south, I’d say China is the best locale. The area around Northern Australia is too underpopulated to have the educated workforce nearby that will be needed and doesn’t have the transportation infrastructure in my opinion. The amount of space needed and environmental laws likely exclude the US. I think France is too far North, but if the equatorial thing isn’t as much of a factor, they would be a possible second choice,
The fact that it’s a buyer’s market is kind of the point. The point of the exercise is explaining why, say, Canada is a better option than the United States, or vice versa. Consider silenus’s suggestion of Thunder Bay.
It wasn’t an argument, love; it was a quip. (What, you’ve never done that?)
My argument (if you insist) is that it should be somewhere that already has a very high population. Because it will have a high population in very short order. If you put it out in some distant corner of Canada or Norway, an immense city will grow up around it, and that will be disruptive to the entire region. Best put it where people already are.
The U.S. is the dominant power on the planet. As such, it makes sense for us to take the lead in alien relations. Besides which, we have SEC football, grits, and sweet tea. No other country can provide those necessities.
It may nott suit their ethics, but they’d probably do better with a Panama-style setup, where we allow them to carve out a whole new country in equatorial Africa. The operation of the spaceport would create it’s own stability and economy, and people would come from all over the world to populate the region with the kind of folks they need.
I guess I’m not following how to make a credible argument that location X is superior to location Y if we have no idea what the criteria is.
But since the aliens seem to be Vulcans, I understand that they may like hot, arid areas at high altitudes. Proximity to humans, oceans, or raw materials doesn’t seem like a concern.
So, the answer is Alice Springs, Australia. Only 2,000 feet in altitude, but warm year-round, and very dry. Plus the aliens will be more normal than the residents.