New Sci Fi Setting Seeds

[DaltonS]

That sounds great for cargo boosts on a robotic orbiter (max load, min fuel) but I think passenger flights might prefer a gentler acceleration. Yes, that means a significant part of a passenger orbiter's load would be reaction mass to boost to orbit but people (particularly those who are not trained astronauts) are generally more fragile than cargo. Also cargo orbiter hulls could designed for a one way trip to become basic structural elements of space stations while passenger orbiters would be designed for reuse and would glide back to Earth and land on conventional (if extended) runways. The MDLS would be designed for outbound travel only and would not need to capture and decelerate anything. Remember that cargo movement will be quite lopsided for some time and the volume of inbound cargo could easily be handled by drop capsules landing at sea.

EDIT: A thought occurred to me about an Earth based MDLS: an object travelling at Earth orbital velocity (5.6 miles/second according to GURPS Spaceships) at sea level has a Mach number of 26.275. What kind of over-pressure are we talking about here? How wide would the safety zone around the track have to be to prevent the sonic boom from blowing windows in?

Dalton “Why re-invent the space shuttle?” Spence

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by DaltonS

That sounds great for cargo boosts on a robotic orbiter (max load, min fuel) but I think passenger flights might prefer a gentler acceleration. Yes, that means a significant part of a passenger orbiter's load would be reaction mass to boost to orbit but people (particularly those who are not trained astronauts) are generally more fragile than cargo. Also cargo orbiter hulls could designed for a one way trip to become basic structural elements of space stations while passenger orbiters would be designed for reuse and would glide back to Earth and land on conventional (if extended) runways. The MDLS would be designed for outbound travel only and would not need to capture and decelerate anything. Remember that cargo movement will be quite lopsided for some time and the volume of inbound cargo could easily be handled by drop capsules landing at sea.

Dalton “Why re-invent the space shuttle?” Spence

The basic idea of the setting is twenty-minuets into the future in SPAAACE! Let's allow two miracles, mass driver passenger options and a medicine (preferably a vaccine ) to deal with Calcium loss in space. Other than those, if it isn't around now or it's unrealistic by 2035 it ain't part of this setting.

[DaltonS]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

The basic idea of the setting is twenty-minuets into the future in SPAAACE! Let's allow two miracles, mass driver passenger options and a medicine (preferably a vaccine ) to deal with Calcium loss in space. Other than those, if it isn't around now or it's unrealistic by 2035 it ian't part of this setting.

According to the timestamps your last post was one minute after I edited mine so you probably didn't see an important point I added. I like the idea of an MDLS but it wouldn't work too well inside Earth's atmosphere (see above) unless you could somehow access the SPEED FORCE!!!

Dalton “sometimes Comic Book Science is the only way” Spence

[AlexanderHowl]

No vaccination will prevent calcium loss in space. It is not caused by a virus, it is a basic feature of evolving in a gravity well. The best way to deal with calcium loss is to bite the bullet and actually build large spacecraft. A SM+12 spacecraft can produce sufficient spin gravity for 0.5g, which is probably good enough to avoid calcium loss with proper diet and exercise, and it provide decent protection from cosmic radiation if designed properly.

Of course, one possible technological solution to calcium loss would be TL9 genetically engineered symbiotic bacteria. The bacteria would be designed to repair bones and muscle tissue degeneration. Of course, you still have to deal with cosmic radiation, which would require more sophisticated solutions.

[TGLS]

If the problem not enough calcium, why not just drink more milk (or take vitamins)? Do the same thing that's done with people at risk for osteoporosis. On the other hand artificial gravity is probably necessary to prevent space blindness.

[AlexanderHowl]

The problem is not that you do not have enough calcium, it is that the body stops giving calcium to the bones, so they weaken over time. Paradoxically, increasing calcium intake under those conditions might further weaken bones, as hypercalcemia may occur.

[DaltonS]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

No vaccination will prevent calcium loss in space. It is not caused by a virus, it is a basic feature of evolving in a gravity well. The best way to deal with calcium loss is to bite the bullet and actually build large spacecraft. A SM+12 spacecraft can produce sufficient spin gravity for 0.5g, which is probably good enough to avoid calcium loss with proper diet and exercise, and it provide decent protection from cosmic radiation if designed properly.

I've seen elsewhere that 0.3g for an hour a day would be enough to maintain health so an SM+11 spacecraft should be big enough. I'm not sure what spin rate in RPM GURPS Spaceships is using so I can't calculate the spin radius.

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

Of course, one possible technological solution to calcium loss would be TL9 genetically engineered symbiotic bacteria. The bacteria would be designed to repair bones and muscle tissue degeneration. Of course, you still have to deal with cosmic radiation, which would require more sophisticated solutions.

That might head into Super-science territory: I built two super-science tech sequences based on the unexpected side effects of an anti-radiation force field developed to replace solid matter radiation shielding. :)

Dalton “getting off Earth is one thing, living there is another” Spence

[Astromancer]

While reading the October 17-23, 2020 New Scientist I read an article that said they're making new dimensions in the lab. (How to build a Higher Dimension by Jon Cartwright).

These are small dimensions, but electrons are jumping through them and they want to use these dimensions to hook up circuits to each other. They suggest this will make quantum computers more workable.

If they're making new dimensions in the lab, what does that say about space warps? Does this mean the Alcubierre Drive is now hard science?

[Alden Loveshade]

In regard to "spin gravity," an alternative is to have the ship continue to accelerate. Then, part way through the journey (maybe when you're getting ready to land), accelerate in the opposite direction (what on Earth is usually called deceleration). That's what I generally use in my space campaigns and published SF stories when I get into how the ship works (which I usually don't).

Of course that leaves the issue of how much fuel do you need to do that. I fudge a bit there by a concept I came up with in high school. A professor of astrophysics said it just might work--if Einstein's E=MC2 is just a tiny bit off....

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by Alden Loveshade

In regard to "spin gravity," an alternative is to have the ship continue to accelerate. Then, part way through the journey (maybe when you're getting ready to land), accelerate in the opposite direction (what on Earth is usually called deceleration). That's what I generally use in my space campaigns and published SF stories when I get into how the ship works (which I usually don't).

Of course that leaves the issue of how much fuel do you need to do that. I fudge a bit there by a concept I came up with in high school. A professor of astrophysics said it just might work--if Einstein's E=MC2 is just a tiny bit off....

Spin Gravity seems like it's a different subject than whether or not space can be warped. Could you explain the connection.