10-19-2020, 01:42 PM | #1941 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Hamilton, Ont. CANADA
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Re: New Sci Fi Setting Seeds
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
Last edited by DaltonS; 10-19-2020 at 05:52 PM. Reason: Added comment about Mach speeds and MDLS |
10-19-2020, 05:53 PM | #1942 | |
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: West Virginia
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Re: New Sci Fi Setting Seeds
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Per Ardua Per Astra! Ancora Imparo Last edited by Astromancer; 05-31-2022 at 01:54 PM. |
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10-19-2020, 09:49 PM | #1943 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Hamilton, Ont. CANADA
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Re: New Sci Fi Setting Seeds
Quote:
Dalton “sometimes Comic Book Science is the only way” Spence
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10-19-2020, 10:43 PM | #1944 |
Join Date: Feb 2016
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Re: New Sci Fi Setting Seeds
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. |
10-20-2020, 07:57 AM | #1945 |
Join Date: Jan 2014
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Re: New Sci Fi Setting Seeds
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.
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10-20-2020, 08:18 AM | #1946 |
Join Date: Feb 2016
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Re: New Sci Fi Setting Seeds
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.
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10-20-2020, 08:36 AM | #1947 | ||
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Hamilton, Ont. CANADA
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Re: New Sci Fi Setting Seeds
Quote:
Quote:
Dalton “getting off Earth is one thing, living there is another” Spence
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10-23-2020, 06:05 PM | #1948 |
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: West Virginia
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Re: New Sci Fi Setting Seeds
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?
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Per Ardua Per Astra! Ancora Imparo Last edited by Astromancer; 10-26-2020 at 06:18 PM. |
10-23-2020, 06:39 PM | #1949 |
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Hmm, looks like Earth, circa CE 2020+
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Re: New Sci Fi Setting Seeds
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....
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GURPS Fantasy Folk: Elves My first GURPS supplement Top 12 Clues You're a Role-Playing Old-Timer My humorous (I hope) article that also promotes SJGames/GURPS Kerry Thornley: Dwarf Planet Eris, Discordianism, and The John F. Kennedy Assassination Without Thornley, there would never have been the Steve Jackson Games edition of Principia Discordia |
10-24-2020, 12:32 PM | #1950 | |
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: West Virginia
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Re: New Sci Fi Setting Seeds
Quote:
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Per Ardua Per Astra! Ancora Imparo |
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