Generation Ships

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

Just as a technical note there's a differnce between "out of the solar system" and "to another star in pracical time". If TL8 Orion drives could be built to match expectations (and there hasn't been the slightest work on this beyond paper studies) then a ship could be propelled to beyond solarr escape velocity.

My point, though, was that given how far away from production Orion drives are in our reality, they appear to be TL9 technology. The paper studies and theoretical possibilities of one TL will often become the technology in common use at the next, which is what governs the assignment of TLs in GURPS. There is nothing in the rules that says that some TL9 gadgets may not exist right now in the real world, in the form of prototypes available only to those with very specific Social Advantages, amounting to Perks like Early Adopter or some specialised form of the High TL Advantage.

We're close to TL9, no matter what measure we use. It's to be expected that we know how to build some TL9 gadgets, if we could just work out some of the kinks.

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by Icelander

The paper studies and theoretical possibilities of one TL will often become the technology in common use at the next, which is what governs the assignment of TLs in GURPS.
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All true but Orion drives are TL7 concepts from the early 60s. If they had been pursued vigorously in some alternate timeline, perhaps one where the natural human Template includes Regen (Radiation Only) then they might have been ready in the TL8 period.

Spaceships includes a lot of things that are for deep alternates even if they aren't ^. The Nuclear Saltwater Rocket might be even more dangerous than the Orion drive.