Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

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Onaiom
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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by Onaiom »

I would like to know why humanity took 50 years to develop from the Information Age to Spacefaring, then it took 100 years to do the same from Spacefaring to Starfaring, and then it took another 50 years to reach Antimatter. You mentioned something about it but I couldn't find. Why Spacefaring lasted 100 years? Sholudn't it have lasted only 50 as the others high-tech eras?

P.S: Sorry for the bad english.

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Arioch
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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by Arioch »

Onaiom wrote:I would like to know why humanity took 50 years to develop from the Information Age to Spacefaring, then it took 100 years to do the same from Spacefaring to Starfaring, and then it took another 50 years to reach Antimatter. You mentioned something about it but I couldn't find. Why Spacefaring lasted 100 years? Sholudn't it have lasted only 50 as the others high-tech eras?
The general definitions of the tech levels were established by Steve Jackson Games for their GURPS roleplaying system; I just put in the corresponding dates from the Outsider continuity. In the original GURPS version, Spacefaring is listed as "2000-2050?", and then no further dates are given.

I frequently use the GURPS system as a tool to help design and define my characters and universes, but I adapt the system to my stories rather than the other way around. I personally think 2050 is far too early to be a plausible date for interstellar travel. I think we'll be very lucky if we have a Mars colony by 2050.

If you want a realistic date for interstellar travel, I'm afraid the answer is probably "never." I seriously doubt that faster-than-light travel is a physical possibility in this universe. But Outsider isn't that kind of story. :D

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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by Sweforce »

Onaiom wrote:I would like to know why humanity took 50 years to develop from the Information Age to Spacefaring, then it took 100 years to do the same from Spacefaring to Starfaring, and then it took another 50 years to reach Antimatter. You mentioned something about it but I couldn't find. Why Spacefaring lasted 100 years? Sholudn't it have lasted only 50 as the others high-tech eras?

P.S: Sorry for the bad english.
Spacefaring, we got that today but lacking the will. Building a manned ship capable of multiple trips to Mars is mostly an economical challenge rather than an technological one. Traveling between stars, that is really hard even if we would be willing to let each trip take several decades. We cannot build a sleeper ship since we cannot put someone in suspended animation. The fuel cost for a speedy trip would be enormous. Spacefaring is like taking as walk to your neighbours house. Starfaring is like flying to another continent. Big difference.

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Grayhome
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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by Grayhome »

Arioch, is humanity conducting any research into jump sickness in order to find a cure or mitigator for it? Jump sickness seems quite debilitating even at low tech levels when the maximum speed of vessels is only 5-6g's and FTL jumps are spaced farther apart. I can only imagine how much more debilitating jump sickness would become if the crews of higher TL vessels had to deal with much more frequent FTL jumps, and thus more debilitating sickness. Alex's deteriorating health after so many jumps on the Tempest seems to be quite nasty.

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Arioch
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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by Arioch »

Grayhome wrote:Arioch, is humanity conducting any research into jump sickness in order to find a cure or mitigator for it?
I presume so, but they're not going to find one. The Loroi and Umiak have been looking for far longer with much higher medical technology. Jump sickness isn't caused by physiological effects, but is rather a malady of the mind caused by the transition into and out of hyperspace. The only way to mitigate the symptoms is to reduce the exposure of your consciousness, either through meditation or the like, or through sedation.

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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by GeoModder »

Grayhome wrote:Alex's deteriorating health after so many jumps on the Tempest seems to be quite nasty.
You forgot the food part. Its highly likely he hadn't eaten well enough for at least a week. I don't think jump sickness is something that lingers long after making one. Otherwise we'd have seen a portion of Bellarmine's crew not at stations at the start of the prologue.
Also, from what Alex was saying in this scene it looks like humans can sleep through a jump. And he seemed alert enough once they got up and moving to the Highland shuttle.
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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by fredgiblet »

Are automated scouts possible? Ships that can jump on their own, scan a system, then turn around and jump back? It would seem based off of what I've seen that there wouldn't be any significant technical hurdles to that.

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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by Sweforce »

fredgiblet wrote:Are automated scouts possible? Ships that can jump on their own, scan a system, then turn around and jump back? It would seem based off of what I've seen that there wouldn't be any significant technical hurdles to that.
It even make sense that the first jump capable ships where automated. Safer to not risk a crew on untested tech.

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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by CrimsonFALKE »

Sweforce wrote:
fredgiblet wrote:Are automated scouts possible? Ships that can jump on their own, scan a system, then turn around and jump back? It would seem based off of what I've seen that there wouldn't be any significant technical hurdles to that.
It even make sense that the first jump capable ships where automated. Safer to not risk a crew on untested tech.
In some cases you have to risk a person although thanks to simulators and computer programs its easier to not risk a person's life when testing new transportation technology.

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Arioch
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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by Arioch »

fredgiblet wrote:Are automated scouts possible? Ships that can jump on their own, scan a system, then turn around and jump back? It would seem based off of what I've seen that there wouldn't be any significant technical hurdles to that.
It's possible to make automated starships (the Historians do it), but even an unmanned probe is going to be a ~75m corvette, which is still a fairly expensive piece of hardware. Without a crew, it will have limited ability to deal with anything that doesn't go to plan; in particular, it won't be able to repair itself if there is a malfunction. If it doesn't come back, you won't know whether it misjumped or just had a glitch on the other side and is waiting there.

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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by SVlad »

IIRC, I've seen somewhere here an image of America Heavy Cruiser with annotated systems, but I failed to find this image.
Is it really here, or does my memory play me false?
Outsider in Russian
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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by GeoModder »

SVlad wrote:IIRC, I've seen somewhere here an image of America Heavy Cruiser with annotated systems, but I failed to find this image.
Is it really here, or does my memory play me false?
Its in the Insider. Look at the wallpaper links on the right side of the page.

Or follow this link.

http://well-of-souls.com/gallery/images ... _color.png

EDIT: sorry, was too quick. No annotated systems on that picture.
If it exists, I can't remember seeing it.
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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by Tamri »

Maybe I just have not found, but:

- In what year people have finished testing the hyperdrive?

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Arioch
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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by Arioch »

Tamri wrote:Maybe I just have not found, but:

- In what year people have finished testing the hyperdrive?
2086.

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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by ShadowDragon8685 »

Strange and possibly silly question: did Alex own a sword?
I imagine if he did, it went up in a burst of antimatter with the rest of Bellarmine if it wasn't already obliterated before then, but still.

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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by Tamri »

ShadowDragon8685 wrote:Strange and possibly silly question: did Alex own a sword?
I imagine if he did, it went up in a burst of antimatter with the rest of Bellarmine if it wasn't already obliterated before then, but still.
Hardly. As an officer, he can wield a pistol / carbine, may have a common hand-to-hand fighting training. But usage skills with all that shooting, as well as cuts / pricks / beats - this is usually the prerogative of the infantry and -troops, for which he doesn't exactly sideways.

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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by sunphoenix »

I'm not an officer.. and I own like several swords {7 to be exact}.. four of which are battle sharpened.. and ALL of them I know how to use effectively {been formally trained to fight with swords of several types~ no fencing though}; and yet.. I've never been a part of ANY military service. You don't need to be in the military to know how to use a sword or own {more swords than you need}... but I'd expect they'd frown on you carrying one with you on a scouting mission... unless you were an officer.
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ShadowDragon8685
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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by ShadowDragon8685 »

Tamri wrote:
ShadowDragon8685 wrote:Strange and possibly silly question: did Alex own a sword?
I imagine if he did, it went up in a burst of antimatter with the rest of Bellarmine if it wasn't already obliterated before then, but still.
Hardly. As an officer, he can wield a pistol / carbine, may have a common hand-to-hand fighting training. But usage skills with all that shooting, as well as cuts / pricks / beats - this is usually the prerogative of the infantry and -troops, for which he doesn't exactly sideways.
Military Officers in many - most - traditions - are allowed to own swords. Above a certain rank, they are required to own a sword.
They are not required, nor expected, to be combat masters with said swords, as they are mostly for ceremonial purposes.

Alex was an Ensign - that's the lowest rank of commissioned officer, meaning that - if the TCA operates anything like the U.S. Navy - he would have been permitted, but not required, to own a sword.

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