Spaceships questions

[Humabout]

Originally Posted by SCAR

3. Spaceships Engines in an Atmosphere - Questions
(a) Which of the Spaceship Engines cannot be used in a 'standard' (habitable) atmosphere?
(b) Which of the Spaceship Engines would be hazardous to use near a population centre? - This might be on a sliding scale: Rock Landing Area well away from populations; Spaceport outside of town (this assumes the landing pads/bays aren't slagged by engine exhaust); Can land on the edge of the average town, say in a car park or equivalent; Could land in town square; Could land on top of a building (say the equivalent of a heli-pad).

Space Sail obviously don't work in an atmosphere, and I'm not sure that Electric Engines would (not sure why I think that though)? How about the Plasma engines from SS7?

Engines with 'Nuclear' reaction mass would be 'unsafe', Nuclear Salt Water would seem to be pretty hazardous, and the EPP (Orion Drive) is definitely not for use anywhere near a habitation!

The Drive Hazards section of the Designer's Notes addresses this.