Mmm... Rotor isn't to be found in the Trade lexicon, so I'm unsure whether or not I was soshrallal with my remark.Arioch wrote:That's Rosanrer-Rotor to you.
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Mmm... Rotor isn't to be found in the Trade lexicon, so I'm unsure whether or not I was soshrallal with my remark.Arioch wrote:That's Rosanrer-Rotor to you.
It's "seven." It's in the numerals section but for some reason the numbers weren't all included in the recent lexicon dump.GeoModder wrote:Mmm... Rotor isn't to be found in the Trade lexicon, so I'm unsure whether or not I was soshrallal with my remark.Arioch wrote:That's Rosanrer-Rotor to you.
Clearbrook is one of the escorts from the supply convoy, which arrived from the direction of Azimol. Strike Group 51 arrived from Sala 128 (from the direction of Naam) on the opposite end of the system. Clearbrook has been diverted toward the vector to Gora (which is the beginning of the leg path to Seren), which is essentially perpendicular from the Azimol-Sala 128 path, and the Highland shuttle was dispatched to catch up with Clearbrook and transfer its passengers before she jumps to Gora. Meanwhile, SG51 and the convoy are matching velocities nearer the center of the Leido system so they can refuel and resupply.icekatze wrote:The Frigate Clearbrook, is it not part of the 51st strike group? I assume it wasn't, but I don't know for sure. (If we were told somewhere on the forums, I've forgotten.) If it was part of the 51st, I would think that they'd have made the transfer when they decided to split up, rather than when they were already far apart, unless the decision to offload Alex wasn't made until later.
And the particles which actually make a drive plume visible are extremely tiny and light.icekatze wrote:One would have to be extremely close to the sun in order for solar wind to have a significant impact on the drive plume of a ship. At 1 AU, the pressure is measured in nanopascals.
If the ion tail gets 3.8 AU long, I assume being within the range of the inner planetary system will blow the drive plume away from the sun. (Jupiter is at 5,2 to 5,4 AU from the sun).Wikipedia wrote: ion tails have been observed to extend 3.8 astronomical units
Ah, okay. Thanks for the explanation.Arioch wrote:It's "seven." It's in the numerals section but for some reason the numbers weren't all included in the recent lexicon dump.GeoModder wrote:Mmm... Rotor isn't to be found in the Trade lexicon, so I'm unsure whether or not I was soshrallal with my remark.Arioch wrote:That's Rosanrer-Rotor to you.
Small craft usually don't get unique names, so they're typically identified by the type name and a numeric designation, so "Highland-Seven," "Arrow-104," etc.
I could also settle for an Ashrain onedragoongfa wrote:http://well-of-souls.com/gallery/images ... n_2015.jpg
One of these days...
My wish for a Stillstorm pinup will be granted...
Like a big water sprinkler...but as high as the exhaust velocity is going to be, probably only visible on sensors at a scale where the ship is a pinprick.Arioch wrote:As far as I'm aware, in the vacuum of space, an exhaust plume will look exactly the same regardless of orientation or current velocity. In the comic, the plumes sometimes bend to indicate change in trajectory, but I think that's more visual convenience than strictly realistic.
The drive plume of a ship accelerating at 40 g is not going to behave the same as a cloud of ionized gas being stripped away from a chunk of slowly sublimating ice.Krulle wrote:And the particles which actually make a drive plume visible are extremely tiny and light.icekatze wrote:One would have to be extremely close to the sun in order for solar wind to have a significant impact on the drive plume of a ship. At 1 AU, the pressure is measured in nanopascals.
As any tail of a comet will show you, the pressure of the solar wind at 2 AU is more than sufficient to blow such things away.
Different drives for different purposes. Ion/Hall Effect/etc for distances & long-term station keeping. Plasma for high-thrust tasks, but only if you have a major power source: they're a decent choice if we need Earth-orbit space tugs. Fusion is firmly in the realm of future-tech: non-self-sustaining is just a revision of plasma, and self-sustaining is not possible with current technology. The EmDrive could be an interesting alternative to the Ion drive category, but the tests have always been on the edge of detection.Grayhome wrote:I've been looking through NASA articles about plasma, fusion, ion & other thrusters for their future spacecraft, does anyone have any opinions on which is going to be the thruster of the future? Anyone else geeking out over all of this amazing sci-fi space ship tech becoming reality?
For charged particles you can always play with magnetic fields, but otherwise your best bet is hydrocarbons (or water, if you don't mind hideously expensive launches). Artificial gravity and inertial dampeners will hopefully become available via manipulation of the Higgs field, but that's so far beyond future-tech that it's daydream-tech.Grayhome wrote:Has anyone seen any technological breakthroughs concerning artificial gravity, inertial dampeners, or radiation shielding? You know, the technologies that would allow us to explore the solar system unhindered by the current hurdles.
Fusion is supposed to be decent if we can ever get a net-positive fusion reactor. There's also the old Orion Drive proposal, some variations of which are actually plasma/fusion drives themselves (MicroMagOrion, or something like that).Krulle wrote:For long travel distances, if no FTL shortcut is found, photon drives will be the only viable solution. But they have a terrible low output, but by far the best propulsion/energy ratio.
"Leaky" fusion is a suggested form of plasma drive.Krulle wrote:Fusion is an energy creation process, not a drive system. The ions, plasma, ... can be created using fusion...
That's the drive used by the Moties. "They're just enclosing the hydrogen, fusing it and blasting it out. A plasma bottle."Absalom wrote:"Leaky" fusion is a suggested form of plasma drive.Krulle wrote:Fusion is an energy creation process, not a drive system. The ions, plasma, ... can be created using fusion...
The problem is that the mass of the fuel is lost afterwards, and that we therefore need to put tremendous amounts of fuel on the ship. The distance (without FTL) is prohibitively large, the amount of fuel needed therefore tremendous, so much even, that most calculations I've seen so far suggest starting the ship, and sending the crew to it more than 10 years later, to catch up with the ship when it is somewhere near Jupiter for the first sling shot (or even catch it between Jupiter and the Sun for the big slingshot).Absalom wrote:Fusion is supposed to be decent if we can ever get a net-positive fusion reactor. There's also the old Orion Drive proposal, some variations of which are actually plasma/fusion drives themselves (MicroMagOrion, or something like that).Krulle wrote:For long travel distances, if no FTL shortcut is found, photon drives will be the only viable solution. But they have a terrible low output, but by far the best propulsion/energy ratio.
Oh, great... :p Another book I need to get my hands on and read.Arioch wrote:Absalom wrote:That's the drive used by the Moties. "They're just enclosing the hydrogen, fusing it and blasting it out. A plasma bottle."
I understood it that photon drives are weak NOW and still useful. I doubt that there isn't possible to make powerful versions as well.Krulle wrote:The problem is that the mass of the fuel is lost afterwards, and that we therefore need to put tremendous amounts of fuel on the ship. The distance (without FTL) is prohibitively large, the amount of fuel needed therefore tremendous, so much even, that most calculations I've seen so far suggest starting the ship, and sending the crew to it more than 10 years later, to catch up with the ship when it is somewhere near Jupiter for the first sling shot (or even catch it between Jupiter and the Sun for the big slingshot).Absalom wrote:Fusion is supposed to be decent if we can ever get a net-positive fusion reactor. There's also the old Orion Drive proposal, some variations of which are actually plasma/fusion drives themselves (MicroMagOrion, or something like that).Krulle wrote:For long travel distances, if no FTL shortcut is found, photon drives will be the only viable solution. But they have a terrible low output, but by far the best propulsion/energy ratio.
The amount of fuel will make the non-FTL interstellar ship so massive, that the acceleration will be near non-existant when it still has enough fuel to brake with 1g when the ship has reached one of our closest neighbours.
Oh, great... :p Another book I need to get my hands on and read.Arioch wrote:Absalom wrote:That's the drive used by the Moties. "They're just enclosing the hydrogen, fusing it and blasting it out. A plasma bottle."
Thanks! (and I mean that sarcastically and honestly at the same time. I love reading SciFi, but have absolutely no time currently for private hobbies like reading a good book).
A Jupiter slingshot will add nothing significant to a ship on an interstellar trip...at most 13 km/s. Rendezvous with an outbound starship is probably not practical...the ship leaving later will need much more delta-v to catch up and then stop when it reaches the first ship. And I don't know how to parse the bit about acceleration being near nonexistent when it's 1 g.Krulle wrote:The problem is that the mass of the fuel is lost afterwards, and that we therefore need to put tremendous amounts of fuel on the ship. The distance (without FTL) is prohibitively large, the amount of fuel needed therefore tremendous, so much even, that most calculations I've seen so far suggest starting the ship, and sending the crew to it more than 10 years later, to catch up with the ship when it is somewhere near Jupiter for the first sling shot (or even catch it between Jupiter and the Sun for the big slingshot).Absalom wrote:Fusion is supposed to be decent if we can ever get a net-positive fusion reactor. There's also the old Orion Drive proposal, some variations of which are actually plasma/fusion drives themselves (MicroMagOrion, or something like that).Krulle wrote:For long travel distances, if no FTL shortcut is found, photon drives will be the only viable solution. But they have a terrible low output, but by far the best propulsion/energy ratio.
The amount of fuel will make the non-FTL interstellar ship so massive, that the acceleration will be near non-existant when it still has enough fuel to brake with 1g when the ship has reached one of our closest neighbours.
I forgot (or accidentally deleted) the "at the start of the mission" after "acceleration".Mjolnir wrote:And I don't know how to parse the bit about acceleration being near nonexistent when it's 1 g.Krulle wrote:The amount of fuel will make the non-FTL interstellar ship so massive, that the acceleration will be near non-existant when it still has enough fuel to brake with 1g when the ship has reached one of our closest neighbours.
It's one of the true classics of science fiction -- a must-read.Krulle wrote:Oh, great... :p Another book I need to get my hands on and read. Thanks! (and I mean that sarcastically and honestly at the same time. I love reading SciFi, but have absolutely no time currently for private hobbies like reading a good book).Arioch wrote:That's the drive used by the Moties. "They're just enclosing the hydrogen, fusing it and blasting it out. A plasma bottle."
I also need to read it as the Moties sound a bit like the Thraddash from Star Control 2/ The Ur-Quan Masters.
That is the answer for most rockets. For an interstellar journey, you don't gain much...you're not really in a hurry to finish your burn, since you'll likely spend most of your time coasting anyway. The slow start might be unimpressive, but it's still momentum gained.icekatze wrote:Having a poor starting thrust is what staging is for. You have a booster stage at the start, and it decouples once it is spent.