08-24-2020, 08:18 PM | #4991 | |
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: West Virginia
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Re: New Reality Seeds
Quote:
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Per Ardua Per Astra! Ancora Imparo |
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08-24-2020, 09:37 PM | #4992 |
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: New York, NY
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Re: New Reality Seeds
Happy Page 500 of this awesome thread!
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08-24-2020, 10:17 PM | #4993 |
Join Date: Feb 2016
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Re: New Reality Seeds
Crude solid propellant staging is ancient Chinese, it is relatively easy because the stages are made from paper and burn up. When you are talking about staging metallic rockets, you are talking about a whole different dimension of difficulty, as you need dozens of perfectly timed explosive bolts to separate the stages when they are exhausted. As for Jules Verne, he only had knowledge of powder rockets, so he did not understand the issues surrounding the difficulties of sending a satellite into orbit. Now, Jules Verne did inspire Tsiolkovsky, who figured out solutions to many of the issues surrounding rocketry.
Now Tsiolkovsky is an interesting fellow. He did publish on the first theoretical multistage rocket design in 1903, though it would have likely been impossible to develop at that time due to technological limitations. Had Tsiolkovsky's genius been properly recognized at that time though, and had he been given funding equal to 1% of the US GDP at the time, he might have been able to come up with a primitive rocket that could have reached orbit by the middle 1910s. For example, if Bryan had won the 1900 election instead of McKinley, it is possible that he could have been convinced to support progress in science and engineering since he was an opponent of American imperialism. In that case, luring Tsiolkovsky from Russia by 1904 may have been possible, as the idea of placing orbital weather stations, where men could have sent radio reports of the weather, as well as developing photos of the weather systems, to the surface of the Earth. Such practicality may have appealed to the populist sentiments of Bryan and, while expensive, the fever of technological progress was filling America at the time. If Bryan won reelection in 1904, he would have been free to push for funding Tsiolkovsky, perhaps allowing for the first manned space flights by 1914. Of course, Tsiolkovsky would have faced many of the problems of that the researchers of the German Empire would have faced, but he would have had the advantage of more funding since Bryan would have rather spent money on the advancement of science for the betterment of the people than to have spent money on increasing the size of the US military for the purpose of imperialism. With sufficient funding, Tsiolkovsky may have been able to push America to TL7 rocketry. As for Goddard, he would have likely been hired by Tsiolkovsky in this timeline and, given the basics developed by Tsiolkovsky, would have improved upon them greatly. Since American imperialism would have been replaced by a push into space (being first into space would have likely been seen as a natural progression from being first in heavier than air flight in 1904), the USA would have not been involved in World War I. While the Europeans were slaughtering each other, the USA would have been celebrating the first man in space in 1914. By 1918, when World War I would have resulted in a draw, the USA could have established a small orbital platform for weather reports and may have been marketing similar platforms to other nations. |
08-25-2020, 11:04 AM | #4994 |
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Meifumado
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Re: New Reality Seeds
I hope you meant "patents" there.
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08-25-2020, 12:27 PM | #4995 |
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: West Virginia
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Re: New Reality Seeds
The autocorrect gives me strange gifts.
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08-25-2020, 12:48 PM | #4996 | |
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: The deep dark haunted woods
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Re: New Reality Seeds
Quote:
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky published Investigations of Outer Space by Rocket Devices in 1911 and Aims of Astronauts in 1914. The Tsiolkovsky formula is one of the basic mathematics of space travel. With space travel being more mainstream, Tsoilkovsky might be inspired to develop his work earlier. And if he got enough incentive, he might be inspired to leave Russia and offer his services to Germany. Or a German spy could steal his work. The scientific understanding is there in the time period. Many of the great minds of rocketry were extant. With national-level funding and popular support, anything might be possible
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"When you talk about damage radius, even atomic weapons pale before that of an unfettered idiot in a position of power." - Sam Starfall from the webcomic Freefall Last edited by Mysterious Dark Lord v3.2; 08-25-2020 at 12:54 PM. |
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08-25-2020, 04:34 PM | #4997 | |
Join Date: Dec 2012
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Re: New Reality Seeds
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In the 'no WWI at all' version, the Space Race is rather more interesting, IMHO, due to having more participants. Who actually gets to the Moon first is another matter, of course. The German Empire is a little ahead due to aiming for it earlier, but the other Great Powers are certainly not going to let themselves be left behind. I sort of wonder if the existing alliances are likely to pool their resources, or if it's every nation for themselves.
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Warning, I have the Distractible and Imaginative quirks in real life. "The more corrupt a government, the more it legislates." -- Tacitus Five Earths, All in a Row. Updated 12/17/2022: Apocrypha: Bridges out of Time, Part I has been posted. |
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08-25-2020, 05:17 PM | #4998 | |
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: West Virginia
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Re: New Reality Seeds
Quote:
I agree that a Space Race with more players is more fun/lively.
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Per Ardua Per Astra! Ancora Imparo |
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08-25-2020, 07:22 PM | #4999 |
Join Date: Feb 2016
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Re: New Reality Seeds
I do not really see how this situation would prevent WWI. If the blast had occurred in a more settled region, it might have destroyed a city, but it would have had to have destroyed a capital to have any impact on WWI. For example, had it destroyed Berlin, it would have likely killed Wilhelm II and most of his family.
In that scenario, I could see the newly crowned Wilhelm III being quite eager to fund scientific development to prevent future tragedies. If the British and Russian governments (both of whose rulers were relatives of Wilhelm III) donated to the rebuilding of Berlin, then it could have improved relations between the nations to the point that WWI could have been avoided. Of course, war would have eventually occurred, just not WWI. |
08-26-2020, 08:32 PM | #5000 | |
Join Date: Dec 2012
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Re: New Reality Seeds
Quote:
So, in this one, while there may be smaller wars, and colonial proxy wars, Europe just manages to avoid having a general European war, and thus, this Earth never quite has a WWI.
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Warning, I have the Distractible and Imaginative quirks in real life. "The more corrupt a government, the more it legislates." -- Tacitus Five Earths, All in a Row. Updated 12/17/2022: Apocrypha: Bridges out of Time, Part I has been posted. |
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