Spaceships for THS

[marvin]

While looking over GURPS Spaceships for some additions to THS I found that a few TL9 and TL10 ships exist with the caret symbol but I can't discern what makes them superscience. Several of them have a High Thrust Fusion Torch Drive. Is this considered superscience? If so why and how does it mechanically differ from non-superscience fusion drives?

Thanks.
Benjamin

[SCAR]

The Fusion Torch is listed as TL10^ on Spaceships page 23, which is superscience!

I assume you're aware of Spaceships 8: Transhuman Spacecraft, which is specifically an adaption of the Spaceships system for Transhuman space, include spaceships version of (all?) the spacecraft from the TS books.

[marvin]

Originally Posted by SCAR

The Fusion Torch is listed as TL10^ on Spaceships page 23, which is superscience!

I assume you're aware of Spaceships 8: Transhuman Spacecraft, which is specifically an adaption of the Spaceships system for Transhuman space, include spaceships version of (all?) the spacecraft from the TS books.

I'm aware of both of these things. I 'm just looking to poach a few extra spacecraft to add to the THS setting.

My question is, what makes the TL10^ Fusion Torch different from the THS fusion drives? Why is it superscience and they are considered hard sci fi?

Benjamin

[SCAR]

Originally Posted by marvin

I'm aware of both of these things. I 'm just looking to poach a few extra spacecraft to add to the THS setting.

My question is, what makes the TL10^ Fusion Torch different from the THS fusion drives? Why is it superscience and they are considered hard sci fi?

Benjamin

Originally Posted by Spaceships 8, page 7

Reaction Engine, Fusion
The high-impulse fusion torch drive in Transhuman Space is represented by the TL9 fusion rocket from GURPS Spaceships. The high-thrust fusion torch is represented by the TL9 fusion rocket with high-thrust options.

So the TS 'Fusion Torch' is what SS calls a 'Fusion Rocket', which is not Superscience - what SS calls a 'Fusion Torch' is Superscience - basically just different naming.

[marvin]

Originally Posted by SCAR

So the TS 'Fusion Torch' is what SS calls a 'Fusion Rocket', which is not Superscience - what SS calls a 'Fusion Torch' is Superscience - basically just different naming.

Thanks, I missed that. So really it's just the next, not yet possible but still plausible, advancement of the fusion torch drive. I think I'll use it pretty much as is and bumb up some of the THS designs as needed.

Benjamin

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by marvin

Thanks, I missed that. So really it's just the next, not yet possible but still plausible, advancement of the fusion torch drive. I think I'll use it pretty much as is and bumb up some of the THS designs as needed.

Benjamin

Stuff marked TL^ is not yet impossible, it's just impossible. Are you sure you're familiar with the meaning behind the superscience classification in GURPS? (Not sarcasm.)

[vierasmarius]

Originally Posted by marvin

Thanks, I missed that. So really it's just the next, not yet possible but still plausible, advancement of the fusion torch drive. I think I'll use it pretty much as is and bumb up some of the THS designs as needed.

Benjamin

Fusion Rockets themselves are not yet possible, but plausible. The TL10^ Fusion Torch, while not as blatantly physics-defying as a reactionless thruster or FTL drive, is still solidly superscience. It is 25 times as efficient as the TL10 realistic equivalent. If you want ships to use an improved version of the TL10 Fusion Rocket, call them TL10.5 prototypes, with maybe 90 mps per fuel tank (compared to 60 mps at TL10 and 180 mps at TL11). To get more thrust, use the high-thrust and water-fueled options (x2 and x3 thrust respectively, with a proportional diminishing of delta-V).

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by vierasmarius

Fusion Rockets themselves are not yet possible, but plausible. The TL10^ Fusion Torch, while not as blatantly physics-defying as a reactionless thruster or FTL drive, is still solidly superscience. It is 25 times as efficient as the TL10 realistic equivalent. If you want ships to use an improved version of the TL10 Fusion Rocket, call them TL10.5 prototypes, with maybe 90 mps per fuel tank (compared to 60 mps at TL10 and 180 mps at TL11). To get more thrust, use the high-thrust and water-fueled options (x2 and x3 thrust respectively, with a proportional diminishing of delta-V).

The major problem with the fusion torch is the enormous power that is implied by the combination of high thrust and high delta-V.

You might be able to generate that power, but it's very unlikely that you could make a rocket handle it without burning up and/or melting down.

[Johnny1A.2]

Originally Posted by Ulzgoroth

The major problem with the fusion torch is the enormous power that is implied by the combination of high thrust and high delta-V.

You might be able to generate that power, but it's very unlikely that you could make a rocket handle it without burning up and/or melting down.

Which is true, but the OP should also note that it's very unlikely that you could pack enough miniaturized electronic components to make a personal 2-way radio communicator into a sufficiently small light space for that to be anything but superscience either...from the POV of 1930. Yet we do it all the time. Cell phones are superscience too.

So it's probably true that the rocket drives of THS would never happen in reality...but probably is as certain as we can get.

[marvin]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

Stuff marked TL^ is not yet impossible, it's just impossible. Are you sure you're familiar with the meaning behind the superscience classification in GURPS? (Not sarcasm.)

Probably not. I haven't played GURPS in 13 years and all of my books except 3rd edition THS and WWII stuff are back in the US. Although I have to say, that which we deem possible today was often considered impossible years ago.

What I'm doing is sussing out what type of THS campaign I want to play with friends by email.

-- A small THS task force gets transported to the RoS:Deep Space reality.

Or

-- Aliens with a jump drive and a few technologies that are better arrive in the Sol system intent on invading. But humans aren't the pushovers previous observations led them to believe.